The teenager surrounded by police at Gran Canaria Airport (Picture: Solarpix.com)
A teenager was shot dead by police at Gran Canaria airport after allegedly threatening holidaymakers with a ‘large’ knife.
The 18-year-old Gambian, who reportedly also attacked and tried to rob a taxi driver, was shot five times at the Canary Islands airport on Saturday.
Video footage of the chaotic scenes has now emerged and shows the young man running at one of five Spanish National Police officers trying to stop him as members of the public sprint for cover.
It’s then thought he 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 allegedly tried to board a flight to Gambia before the rampage, but was turned away after airport staff saw his ticket was for a flight on Thursday.
It’s 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’.
Spanish National Police with the body of the young man who was shot dead (Picture: Reuters)
Shortly after the suspect is shot (Picture: Solarpix.com)
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.
‘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.
Forensic officers at the scene (Credits: Reuters)
‘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.
‘He was 18 years old.’
The frightening incident happened the day before thousands of residents on the Canary Islands took to the streets to protest against mass tourism.
They gathered on the seven main islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife,Fuerteventura, El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera and Lanzarote yesterday.
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