Spain: Police Confirm Main Barcelona Attacker Shot Dead
By RFE RL
(RFE/RL) — Spanish police have confirmed that fugitive Barcelona van-attack suspect Younes Abouyaaqoub has been shot dead.
In a tweet, the Catalan regional police said Abouyaaqoub was the man who was shot on the afternoon of August 21 in Subirats, a town west of Barcelona.
Police had said earlier that they had “shot down” a man who appeared to be wearing an explosive belt in Subirats.
Abouyaaqoub had been the subject of a massive manhunt since last week’s attack on Barcelona’s main tourist thoroughfare, Las Ramblas, that killed 13 people and wounded over 120.
Abouyaaqoub is alleged to have escaped Barcelona after the August 17 attack after he hijacked a car before driving it through a police checkpoint and later abandoning the vehicle.
The driver of the vehicle was found stabbed to death in the back seat on August 21, becoming the 15th victim of the Barcelona bloodshed and a later attack in the resort of Cambrils.
