The First Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas will try next Tuesday a man accused of attempting to shoot two National Police officers, after snatching the gun from one of them. The Prosecutor's Office is asking for 28 years in prison for him, for two crimes of attempted murder, two crimes of injury and another of resistance.
The events occurred in July 2021, when six agents went to a car wash in the capital, after receiving a notice that an altercation had occurred. Apparently, the accused had a confrontation with other people and even displayed a fake revolver.
After being arrested and handcuffed, the man was placed in the back of the police vehicle, but then, according to the Prosecutor's Office in its indictment, he began to "hit his head against the vehicle window, while kicking the window on the other side, which is why the same agent entered the back of the vehicle to try to immobilize him."
Then a struggle began and he managed to "free his hands from the handcuffs, taking the opportunity to punch the agent, impacting his upper lip and forehead."
According to the Public Prosecutor's account, another police officer came to the aid of his colleague and tried to "hold the accused by the legs", who at that moment "took possession of the regulation weapon carried by the first intervening agent". To do this, the Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that he had to extract it "from the level 3 anti-theft holster in which the agent carried it, for which he had to remove the two safeties that the agent kept activated in order to guarantee the conservation of the weapon inside the holster and prevent its removal."
"I'm going to give you lead, you sons of bitches"
"At the moment in which the defendant took possession of the weapon, which was loaded and had a cartridge in the chamber, acting with the intention of ending his life, he directed it towards where the second intervening agent was, standing and with part of his body inside the vehicle while trying to hold the accused's legs, and while shouting that he was going to kill them, he pulled the trigger twice, placing the gun a few centimeters from the agent's face and torso, although he did not manage to detonate the weapon as the gun's safety was activated and he failed to cock it," the indictment states.
In addition, it emphasizes that the accused was "fully aware that such shots, if they had hit the agent, would necessarily have caused death or very serious injuries, given the reduced distance from him at which he fired them."
Afterwards, when the first agent grabbed his hand to prevent him from continuing to point at his partner, he pointed the weapon at his leg and fired two more shots, which also did not detonate.
"I'm going to give you lead, you sons of bitches," he shouted in the meantime, according to the statement given by the police during the investigation of this case.
Finally, after the intervention of two other colleagues, they managed to snatch the weapon and subdue him, "being forced to put handcuffs on both his wrists and ankles, as he did not cease his violent behavior."
In provisional prison since then
After his arrest, the accused was sent to provisional prison, where he remains awaiting trial, which will be held next week.
In addition to 28 years in prison (14 for each of the two crimes of attempted murder), the Prosecutor's Office is asking the defendant to compensate one of the agents with 245 euros for the injuries he suffered, both in the face and arms. It also requests that he pay 659 euros to a police officer whose iPhone was broken and 80 euros to another whose glasses were broken.
When establishing the request for a prison sentence, the Prosecutor's Office has considered as an aggravating factor that the detainee already had a criminal record, having been previously convicted of another crime of resistance.
