Malaga fatal shooting victim allegedly mistaken for hitman by Swedish gang members

A 20-year-old construction worker with no criminal record was fatally shot in Malaga after suspects allegedly mistook him for a hitman sent to target them.

Ignacio 'Nacho' lived locally and had spent Friday morning 18 September sitting on a bench in the Barcenillas neighbourhood wearing a cap and dark clothing.

Police investigators believe three Swedish nationals living nearby, who are linked to organised crime networks, mistakenly perceived him as a rival assassin stalking them from the park bench and opened fire at point-blank range in broad daylight.

Despite severe gunshot wounds, the victim managed to run down a flight of stairs to escape his attackers. He reached the entrance of a nearby DIA supermarket, where staff and customers rendered assistance before emergency services arrived.

"I don't know why they shot me. I didn't do anything," the victim told bystanders before being stabilised and rushed to hospital in critical condition. Doctors confirmed his death in intensive care at around 9pm that evening.

In the meantime, the police deployed a large operation to identify and locate the perpetrators. They cordoned off the area and tried to locate shell casings and other evidence that would allow them to reconstruct the trajectory of the shots.

Although investigators initially considered the case a settling of scores due to the suspects' behaviour, all current inquiries suggest otherwise.

According to those close to him, Nacho had no connection to any criminal network. However, the investigation indicates that the three detainees had ties to organised crime.

The police believe that the suspects, caught up in the paranoia surrounding rival gangs, allegedly feared that Nacho was a hitman and would attack first, so they decided to preemptively shoot him at point-blank range.

The three arrests happened throughout the day on Friday. First, police managed to intercept and arrest one of the suspects in the Capuchinos area of Malaga city.

Then, drug-trafficking investigators located a flat that the perpetrators allegedly used. The police raided the property, surprising and arresting the second suspect who was hiding inside.

The third suspect attempted to evade the police cordon. During his escape, he changed his clothes and altered his physical appearance to avoid being recognised. Despite the attempts to evade capture, the police search confirmed his whereabouts late that day.

At around 11pm, the police located and arrested him in Fuengirola.

On Monday, the three detainees appeared in court. The presiding judge ordered their provisional detention without bail. Sources from the High Court of Justice of Andalucía (TSJA) reported that the suspects exercised their constitutional right to remain silent during their appearance.

The incident follows another recent daylight shooting, this time in Marbella along the Golden Mile, where three men aged between 18 and 27 allegedly shot a 48-year-old Dutch national multiple times outside the El Sultán hotel.

The assailants fled towards Estepona in a Volkswagen sedan, driving at high speed against oncoming traffic. Local Police officers pursued the vehicle until it crashed in the Nagüeles area, arresting two Danish nationals and one Dutch national following a confrontation in which three officers sustained injuries.

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