One robber was killed and three others, including a Guardia Civil officer, were injured after a gun battle near the town of Alcalá de los Gazules, Cádiz.
A police checkpoint had been set up to try and locate a gang of dangerous robbers who were also thought to have been involved in two shootings in Puerto Real last July which resulted in the death of a 22 year old woman and the wounding of several other people.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, a car carrying four men approached the police checkpoint at km 47 Jerez-Los Barrios highway, just outside Alcalá de los Gazules. It was the robbers the police were looking for.
The car tried to jump the checkpoint and when that failed, they got out and opened fire with hunting rifles. In the ensuing gun battle, one of the robbers was killed and two others were wounded.
After the robbers had been arrested and while the officers were tending to the wounded, one of their number was seriously injured after a passing car, unrelated to the shooting incident, ploughed into him. Although seriously injured, his condition is said to be ‘stable’.
The gang were apparently returning from the Campo de Gibraltar after committing a robbery when, to their surprise, they were confronted with a police checkpoint.