‘Knife-wielding’ teen shot dead by police at Gran Canaria airport
A man, 18, has been shot dead by the police after allegedly threatening holidaymakers with a 'large' knife at the airport.
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An unnamed man has been shot dead by the police after allegedly threatening members of the public with a ‘large’ knife at Gran Canaria airport.
The man, 18, reportedly attacked and tried to rob a taxi driver.
He was shot five times at the Canary Islands airport on Saturday.
Video footage shows the man running at one of the five Spanish National Police officers trying to stop him as people run for cover.
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It is thought he then tried to attack the officer’s colleagues who appeared to be warning him to desist.
Shortly after shots were fired and he was killed.
According to court officials, one of five bullets struck him in the neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The teenager reportedly attempted to board a flight to Gambia before the rampage, but was turned away by airport staff as his ticket was found to be for a flight on Thursday.
It is said he then attempted to force his way through airport control, setting off a security scanner due to the knife he apparently had in his rucksack.
Ibon Dominguez, a spokesman for police union Jupol, called the officers’ response to the incident “proportional and congruent”.
He added: “The man with the knife could easily have ended the lives of one of those policemen.”
The Canary Islands High Court of Justice said in a statement: “A duty court in Telde has been investigating the circumstances in which a person who was shot by the police died on Saturday in the airport area."
The statement continued: “At the moment the court is compiling the images of the multiple camera recordings from outside and inside the airport in order to establish a reconstruction of the events. The man was shot five times, including once in the neck.
"The videos show that the deceased was apparently out of his mind and carrying a large knife and after attacking a taxi driver he felled a police officer and tried to knock down another, and was wandering around armed in an area with a large number of people, creating a real danger for their physical integrity."