Civil Guard agent kills ex-partner in Asturias barracks

An officer with confiscated arms kills his ex-partner inside the barracks

The incident occurred at the Civil Guard station in Llanes, Asturias. An officer based in Zamora took a colleague's service weapon and killed fellow officer Laura before dying himself. Both parents left three children. The victim was in the VioGén system and had a protection order since 2019. The perpetrator, Dámaso F.S., had a final conviction for domestic violence and a pending expulsion from the force.

The expulsion that came too late

Dámaso F.S. worked in Zamora's canine unit, training dogs for drug searches. In 2024, he accompanied Donald, his German Shepherd, to an event where the dog was decorated after over 1,000 operations. That was his professional life. But since 2019, a domestic violence conviction had barred him from carrying arms, and his weapon had been confiscated. The week of the incident, he reportedly received notice of his definitive separation from service.

The paradox is that, despite being convicted and disarmed, he retained access to the barracks and common areas. The weapon used was not his: he had taken it from a colleague days earlier. The expulsion file had been open for years, a slow process that practically allowed him to remain in the force until the end.

VioGén: years of monitoring and a fatal outcome

The victim was in the VioGén system due to abuse complaints. The protection order dated from 2019. In between, the relationship ended, divorce occurred, and conflicts over custody and property became entrenched. According to judicial documents circulating in the trial, he filed complaints against her for abusa related to the minors and misuse of the shared vehicle. A commander summarized these complaints with two words: "to annoy." She, in turn, remained linked to VioGén.

Some argue the system exhausts both parties: long processes, precautionary measures, distancing orders. Others recall that the origin was a conviction for violence, not a symmetric dispute. The case leaves three orphans and a trail of questions about the efficacy of a tool that has been flagging risk for years, which ultimately materialized.

Weapons in lockers: a protocol under suspicion

The most striking detail is how he obtained the weapon. Service weapons are stored in locker room lockers, access that does not seem to require more than a kick to open. The stolen weapon belonged to another officer, opening another front: that of internal responsibility. It has been noted that, depending on rank, a Civil Guard officer may be assigned multiple weapons, and custody is not always commensurate with theoretical protocols.

This is no minor issue for an armed institution. If someone with a confiscated weapon can take a colleague's weapon in the same barracks, the internal security system fails on multiple levels. The obvious questions are: who controls the lockers? Why was the weapon not under double lock? And above all, how is it possible that an officer undergoing expulsion still had free access to the facilities?

The economic cost of a broken life

Behind the tragedy lies a labor and economic drift that some analyses do not wish to ignore. Dámaso F.S. had been out of the private sector for over forty years. Expulsion from the force meant losing his salary, early retirement, and receiving only a minimum pension at age 53, yet still with maintenance obligations. It has been argued that the combination of economic ruin, loss of status, and family conflict may have been the trigger for the final outburst. It does not excuse it: it places it in a context the system failed to deactivate.

Three children are left without parents. An entire barracks, shocked. And a file, the expulsion, which arrived just the week everything collapsed. The analysis stalls here: no one fully explains why a seven-year monitoring process ended inside a barracks with two officers dead.