A British man has described his shock after watching police shoot those suspected of an attack in the Spanish resort town of Cambrils, hours after a similar attack 130 kilometers away in Barcelona.
Fitzroy Davies was visiting Cambrils to attend a judo camp when attackers apparently struck pedestrians with a car.
Davies tells Sky News says he saw one man get to his feet despite being shot multiple times.
“He then fell down and, within two seconds, he stood back up. He then stepped over the fence, charged the police again, the police fired some more shots and then he fell down again.”
Catalan authorities have confirmed that five suspects, who were wearing fake bomb belts, were killed in a police shootout in the seaside resort town after they plowed down pedestrians and police in a car attack.
The attack, early Friday in Cambrils, came hours after a white van mowed down tourists and locals in the popular Las Ramblas promenade in Barcelona, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 100.
Catalonia’s interior minister, Joaquim Forn, tells Onda Cero radio that the suspects in Cambrils were driving in an Audi 3 and began plowing down people when they reached a populated area near the boardwalk. A police car was damaged and an officer was among the six people injured.
Forn says the suspects, killed in a subsequent shootout with police, were wearing fake bomb belts. He says the belts were very well made, and that authorities only determined they were phoney after a controlled explosion.
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“I was watching a film, one of them horror films,” Davies said of the violence he witnessed firsthand. Davies, a world-renowned Judo practitioner, was in Cambrils to train as part of a larger Judo camp when the incident occurred.
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WATCH: Fitzroy Davies says suspect in Cambrils attack must have been ‘on something’
He captured the dramatic moments following the attack on his phone.
“Then the next thing you know, they drew the guns, they were shouting at the guy and then shots were fired.’
A senior police official in Spain says that a single police officer killed four of the suspects who carried out the attack in Cambrils.
Catalan regional police official, Josep Lluis Trapero, says that it was “not easy” for the officer involved despite being a professional.
Davies told Sky News that the man’s reaction to the gunfire has stuck with him.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department says at least one American was killed and one was injured in the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.
The department said Friday that diplomats from the U.S. consulate in Barcelona are continuing to work with local authorities to identify victims and provide assistance to Americans.
As well, Barcelona and Real Madrid have held a minute of silence for the victims of the attacks in Spain before their training sessions.
There will be a minute of silence held before every Spanish league game this weekend, beginning with Friday’s opening matches.
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