Man dies after being shot in back during clandestine party at 'squatted' luxury villa in Estepona

Juan Cano / Irene Quirante

Malaga

Tuesday, 13 August 2024, 11:45

A luxury villa in Estepona that for neighbours had become a hell in the middle of paradise, as the El Paraiso residential development is called, was the scene of a shooting in the early hours of Monday 12 August. The incident resulted in the death of a middle-aged man who has yet to be identified. National Police officers have taken charge of the investigation and, at the time of going to press, no arrests have yet been made in connection with the incident.

The first call to the emergency services was recorded at 8.55am, when a person phoned 112 Andalucía to report that there had been "shots fired" and that there was at least one injured person. Immediately, National Police officers, the Local Police force and the 061 health emergency medical services were mobilised. On arrival at the villa, located in Calle Hortensia, the officers found the victim in a pool of blood in one of the outbuildings, and although they tried to revive him, their efforts were in vain. The shot, with an entry wound in the back, was fatal.

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The victim's body was taken to a hospital for radiological tests in order to detect any further bullet wounds. After this, the body was taken to Malaga city for an autopsy to be performed.

National Police officers are now trying to clarify the circumstances leading up to the fatal shooting and arrest the perpetrator. During the afternoon, a major search operation was set up around the house with uniformed and plainclothes officers to thoroughly inspect the premises. They also combed all the neighbouring houses to see if the security cameras had captured the crime or the perpetrator's escape.

Sources close to the investigation said that the house, which once belonged to a footballer, was occupied by squatters. Apparently, a man who, according to neighbours, organised the parties, moved in with his partner. The man's wife told journalists that they were not squatters and that they had a contract in place for the property.

Be that as it may, the house in question was on the police radar, as local residents had been complaining for years that clandestine parties were being held there and that there was even an entrance fee charged. The parties had become particularly fashionable during the pandemic.

In fact, this is by no means the first time that such parties have led to gun battles and even murder. Chema, known artistically as DJ JM Ares, died in March 2021 after being shot during an illegal party at which he was the DJ. The prosecution, who asked for nine years in prison for the accused of that death, described that in the villa in Guadalmina (Marbella) where the DJ died, a party was being held, attended by more than 35 people who were "drinking, dancing and playing loud music". At one point, the accused, who was in the company of a group of friends at one of the reserved tables, got up and "in order to attract attention" allegedly wielded a pistol and fired three shots towards the roof of the house. One of these bullets ricocheted and hit Chema in the neck.

Nor was this an isolated case, because at around the same time there were at least two other incidents involving firearms at clandestine parties organised in private villas in Benahavís, although both incidents resulted in injuries and not deaths.