Police hold solemn tributes for Oviedo blast hero Juan José Rodríguez as manhunt intensifies

National Police stations across northern Spain observed a solemn minute's silence on Thursday - broken only by the wail of patrol car sirens - to honour Subinspector Juan José Rodríguez and his sniffer dog Deny, who were killed when a homemade backpack bomb detonated in Oviedo on Tuesday.

Rodríguez, affectionately known to colleagues as "Jota", was just four weeks away from retirement when he and his three-year-old German Shepherd died instantly in the Villafría district of the Asturian capital. A second officer, a 53-year-old specialist from the force’s TEDAX bomb disposal unit, lost a leg in the blast and remains in a serious but stable condition following life-saving surgery.

The tragedy unfolded after officers responded to a shooting in which a 17-year-old female neighbour was wounded on her way to school. Rodríguez and his TEDAX colleague had just removed a suspect rucksack left on top of the entrance hall letterboxes by 64-year-old resident Manuel Ferrero Álvarez - nicknamed "El Ruso" - when the device exploded.

Tributes were particularly poignant in Rodríguez's home province of León, where he hailed from the small village of Santa Olaja de la Varga. Outside the main police headquarters in León city, Government Subdelegate Héctor Alaiz and Provincial Police Chief Miguel Ángel del Diego Ballesteros led officers in mourning an "excellent National Police officer who died tragically in the line of duty". Alaiz praised the fallen K-9 instructor's "exemplary service record" across postings in León, Tenerife, and Asturias, echoing earlier tributes in his adoptive Asturian hometown of Llanera.

In an emotional social media tribute, the National Police stated: "A K-9 handler and his dog lost their lives together, doing one of the things they loved most: working to ensure the safety of the public. Inseparable until the very end."

Meanwhile, Provincial Chief Del Diego confirmed that an "intensive search everywhere" remains underway for Ferrero Álvarez, who has over ten prior arrests for threats, wounding, and criminal damage, in order to prevent him from "causing any further harm". Police arrested the suspect's Russian-born wife, Tatiana, on Wednesday as investigators examine whether a neighbourhood dispute sparked the attack.