Backpack blast after shooting in Oviedo, Spain kills police officer and seriously injures bomb expert

A National Police officer was killed and another seriously injured in Oviedo, the capital of Asturias in northern Spain, on Tuesday morning (10 November) when an explosive device hidden in a backpack detonated during a police operation. A 17-year-old girl had been shot earlier in the same neighbourhood, and the suspect remains at large while police investigate whether the shooting and the blast were the work of the same person.

Girl shot, then officers find a backpack with a device inside

The incident began at about 7:30 to 8 a.m. local time, when neighbours reported hearing gunshots in Villafría, a neighbourhood in south-eastern Oviedo. A 17-year-old girl was shot near social housing between Calle Purita de la Riva and Calle Rafael R. Urrusti, and her father was trying to take her to hospital. Officers responding to the shooting found a partly open backpack with a blinking light inside the entrance of a building on Calle Rafael Urrusti. Suspecting an explosive device, they called in the National Police bomb-disposal unit, TEDAX.

Canine-unit sub-inspector killed; bomb expert loses a leg

At about 8:40 to 9 a.m., the device exploded as it was being inspected. A sub-inspector from the canine unit (Guías Caninos) who approached the bag was killed. A TEDAX specialist accompanying him was seriously injured and taken to the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias (HUCA) in a very serious condition; El Mundo reported that one of his legs had to be amputated.

Suspect at large; motive not established

Police have cordoned off the area and mounted a large operation to find the suspect. Early lines of inquiry point to the same person being behind both the shooting and the device, possibly in connection with a neighbourhood dispute, but the authorities stressed there is no confirmed evidence linking the incident to a terrorist organisation or a criminal group. Oviedo mayor Alfredo Canteli and the Asturias police chief, Jorge Ignacio Moreno, went to the scene. The full circumstances and the girl's condition are still to be confirmed by police.

Source: El Mundo; Heraldo de León; El Folio; El Noticiero de Nava; JUPOL police union, 10 November 2026.

Update, 10 November: fallen officer named; injured girl out of danger

Spain's National Police said on X that the officer killed was Juan José, of the canine unit, and paid tribute to him. The 17-year-old girl who was shot has been taken to the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias (HUCA) and is out of danger, according to Radio Televisión del Principado de Asturias. Police are still searching for the suspect; early reports link the shooting to a dispute between families, but the authorities have not confirmed whether the shooting and the blast were the work of the same person.

Update, 10 November: suspect located and said to be barricaded with guns; PM pays tribute

Police union Justicia Policial (JUPOL) spokeswoman Laura García told Cuatro television that the suspect had been located and was believed to be barricaded in a property with a pistol and a shotgun, and that he might have more explosives. She said the suspect's partner had been detained. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was 'deeply shocked' by the death of the officer. Police sources told EFE that the suspect, in his sixties, had an extensive record for common crimes and that a terrorist motive had been ruled out for now. Police have blocked roads in and out of Oviedo and the manhunt continues; the suspect has not yet been arrested.

November 10 update: Fallen officer's police dog also killed in the blast

Spain's National Police said Deny, the three-year-old German Shepherd who worked alongside fallen canine-unit sub-inspector Juan José, also died in this morning's explosion. The suspect remains at large and the search continues; a terrorist motive has been ruled out.