On Monday, a 35-year-old woman was shot to death by the Portugalete Local Police and a 37-year-old man in a car allegedly stolen was seriously injured. The mayor of Portugalete, Mikel Torres, explained that the municipal agents were following the car from Portugalete, after the persecution of a traffic rule. The shooting took place in the Barachaldian district of Mespelerreka, after the escaping couple tried to hit the police. The Local Police confirmed that the vehicle was stolen last Sunday in the Biscay town of Barakaldo. All Municipal Police officers have been unclean and unclean. The Ertzaintza has required the guns of the agents and has taken over the investigation of the event.

The wounded man was taken to Cruces Hospital in Barakaldo (Bizkaia). The man has been shot in the face and is in an induced coma. Several media outlets have reported that the man has also died, although there is no official confirmation that he is a male.

The following video has been recorded by some neighbours of Mespelerreka and broadcast by the television channel Tele7:

Armed by the municipal police?

In Bizkaia, in almost all large municipalities municipal police officers carry pistol in hand, as in Barakaldo, Getxo, Portugalete or Bilbao. In Gipuzkoa and Álava, on the other hand, Municipal Police officers carry the pistol almost only in the capitals, but in other large municipalities it is not. This Eibar account ended up in court and, after a long tour, by court order, the Municipal Police officers do not carry a pistol. However, the situation may vary according to the political will of the people and the time. Plentzia is a case of this. Last July the municipal government of the PNV decided this and since then in a town of about 4,500 inhabitants all the municipal police officers carry a pistol.

In June 2019, PNV, PSE and pp agreed on several changes to the Police Act. Meanwhile, pp strengthened to allow Local Police officers to be armed in all municipalities of the CAV.