Man dies after restaurant shooting in Playamar

National Police at the scene in Playamar. / ÑITO SALAS

The victim was inside the establishment when a masked gunman walked in and opened fire

Juan Cano / Agustín Peláez

28 October 201809:46

A man who was gunned down while having dinner in a restaurant in Playamar, Torremolinos, on Saturday night, has died of his injuries, police confirmed on Sunday.

"I dropped the plate I was carrying and ran to hide upstairs"

At 9pm there were few people in the restaurant, Tiki, despite it being Saturday night. The only customers were the victim and his female companion who were dining at a table, and another foreign couple at the bar.

The waitress was about to serve the couple one of the dishes they had ordered when the incident occurred.

"I hadn't seen the man who fired the shots come in. When I heard the first shot I thought it was a balloon bursting. I didn't think it could be a gunshot, even though it was inside, but when I saw they were gunshots I dropped the plate I was carrying and ran to hide upstairs where we have a storeroom," said the witness.

She added that nearly all of the employees did the same, while another colleague locked herself in the toilets. "I hid in the storeroom out of survival instinct," she said. "His face was covered and he pointed [the gun] at everyone in the restaurant. He fired seven shots, but I was so nervous that I didn't see what he was shooting," continued the waitress.

Another of the employees who was in the kitchen said he went out with the intention of following the attacker but when he saw how serious the incident was he also hid."

The victim, of Arab appareance, was shot twice by an individual who burst into the restaurant with his face covered and opened fire without saying a word.

The emergency services rushed the victim to hospital with gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen.

The incident occurred at around 9pm on Saturday.

After the shooting, the gunman left the restaurant and escaped in a white van parked in Calle Antonio Navas Ruiz where an accomplice was waiting. The van, which apparently had its back window missing, left in the direction of the motorway.

The emergency services received numerous calls informing of the shooting and police were quickly deployed to try to intercept the suspects.

Sources close to the case said that police chased the gunman's van but lost sight of it at a motorway exit.

The incident appears to be a settling of scores between rival gangs.

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