“Two civil guards and a civilian” died during the incident at an isolated home in a rural area of the Teruel province around 6:00 pm (1700 GMT), a local official told AFP.
Spain's interior minister named the two dead officers in a tweet:
Descansen en paz Víctor Romero y Víctor Jesús Caballero, agentes de la @guardiacivil fallecidos en acto de servicio en Teruel. Perdieron su vida para protegernos a todos. Todo mi cariño y apoyo para sus familias y compañeros. pic.twitter.com/QjmzLQ5UU1
— Juan Ignacio Zoido (@zoidoJI) December 14, 2017
After a police operation being carried out throughout the night in the villages of Andorra and Albalate del Arzobispo, a man was arrested at around 5am in the nearby town of Cantavieja.
Guardia civil ha detenido en Cantavieja #Teruel al presunto autor de la muerte del civil José Iranzo y de los guardias civiles de Alcañiz Víctor y Víctor Jesús en Albalate del Arzobispo
Portaba tres armas de fuego, dos de ellas sustraídas tras asesinar a los agentes pic.twitter.com/xofrU6Uh03
— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) December 15, 2017
The suspect, whose name was not released, was taken into custody in the rural Teruel province where the triple slaying happened, local authorities told AFP.
Investigators were still working to establish a motive for the shooting at an isolated home Thursday, but local official Gustavo Alcade said the alleged killer was already being sought by police for a previous shooting.
The earlier incident, on December 5th, and involved an intruder breaking into a country house and wounding the owner as well as another person, according to local press reports.
The suspect, who police described as “a citizen of Serbian origin by the name of Norbert Feher,” was taken into custody in the rural Teruel province where the triple slaying happened, local authorities told AFP.
Several Italian Media said the man was nicknamed “Igor the Russian” and wanted in Italy for two killings last April near Bologna.
