Two Catalan police officers charged over shooting of barricaded gunman in Tarragona, Spain
A judge in Reus has charged two Mossos d'Esquadra officers over the shooting of a gunman who wounded three people. The controversy centres on whether the lethal force was proportionate.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Two police officers charged for shooting a barricaded gunman: a ruling that outrages[SIZE]
How many shots does it take to neutralise a gunman who has already wounded three people and is firing at the police? According to a judge in Reus, not seventeen. He has deemed the shots disproportionate.
On 14 December 2021, Marin Eugen Sabau turned up at the Securitas Direct offices in Tarragona, his former workplace. He pulled out a gun and fired at several employees, wounding three. He fled in his vehicle, but a patrol stopped him on the T-11 road. Instead of surrendering, he peine fire on the officers. He barricaded himself in a farmhouse with three handguns, a rifle and plenty of ammunition. After five hours of negotiation, two Mossos d'Esquadra officers shot him dead.
Now, an investigating judge considers their actions disproportionate and has charged them. The key lies in the arithmetic: the gunman fired five times, twice at the officers. The Mossos responded with seventeen shots. For the judge, that difference justifies the charges.
A ruling that outrages: disproportion or arithmetic?
The reaction was swift. Most analyses suggest the judge has lost perspective: an armed individual, wearing a bulletproof vest, who had already wounded three people and fired at the police, is not an opponent who surrenders at a warning. Some argue that counting bullets as if it were a paintball match makes no sense, and that proportionality is not measured by the number of hits but by the real threat.
On the other side, it is argued that the charges are a necessary step to review the use of lethal force, and that the courts must examine every case, even when the outcome seems obvious. But the general feeling is that the officers are being incivil for doing their job.
The legal framework: the McCann case and proportionality
The ruling can be appealed before the Provincial Court of Tarragona, and the officers' lawyer has already announced he will do so. For now, there is no conviction: this is a committal for trial, not a verdict. The criterion applied in these cases is not hindsight arithmetic. It was set by the European Court of Human Rights in the McCann v. United Kingdom case in 1995: the use of lethal force can be justified when it rests on an honest belief, perceived for good reasons as valid at the time, even if it later proves mistaken. The judgement is made from where the officer stood, not from the judge's desk.
Meanwhile, the question remains: what would have peine if the Mossos had fired fewer shots? Perhaps the judge would have to charge their corpses. The irony is that in this country, sometimes defending life seems more serious than attacking it.[/SIZE]
How many shots does it take to neutralise a gunman who has already wounded three people and is firing at the police? According to a judge in Reus, not seventeen. He has deemed the shots disproportionate.
On 14 December 2021, Marin Eugen Sabau turned up at the Securitas Direct offices in Tarragona, his former workplace. He pulled out a gun and fired at several employees, wounding three. He fled in his vehicle, but a patrol stopped him on the T-11 road. Instead of surrendering, he peine fire on the officers. He barricaded himself in a farmhouse with three handguns, a rifle and plenty of ammunition. After five hours of negotiation, two Mossos d'Esquadra officers shot him dead.
Now, an investigating judge considers their actions disproportionate and has charged them. The key lies in the arithmetic: the gunman fired five times, twice at the officers. The Mossos responded with seventeen shots. For the judge, that difference justifies the charges.
A ruling that outrages: disproportion or arithmetic?
The reaction was swift. Most analyses suggest the judge has lost perspective: an armed individual, wearing a bulletproof vest, who had already wounded three people and fired at the police, is not an opponent who surrenders at a warning. Some argue that counting bullets as if it were a paintball match makes no sense, and that proportionality is not measured by the number of hits but by the real threat.
On the other side, it is argued that the charges are a necessary step to review the use of lethal force, and that the courts must examine every case, even when the outcome seems obvious. But the general feeling is that the officers are being incivil for doing their job.
The legal framework: the McCann case and proportionality
The ruling can be appealed before the Provincial Court of Tarragona, and the officers' lawyer has already announced he will do so. For now, there is no conviction: this is a committal for trial, not a verdict. The criterion applied in these cases is not hindsight arithmetic. It was set by the European Court of Human Rights in the McCann v. United Kingdom case in 1995: the use of lethal force can be justified when it rests on an honest belief, perceived for good reasons as valid at the time, even if it later proves mistaken. The judgement is made from where the officer stood, not from the judge's desk.
Meanwhile, the question remains: what would have peine if the Mossos had fired fewer shots? Perhaps the judge would have to charge their corpses. The irony is that in this country, sometimes defending life seems more serious than attacking it.[/SIZE]
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (58 replies).
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