Moment tourists flee in terror as man with sub-machinegun opens fire at a busy Costa Del Sol restaurant
- Police are said to be hunting at least two people believed to be involved
This is the terror moment tourists run for cover before a gunman appears from nowhere and fires towards a restaurant in the Costa del Sol holiday resort of Puerto Banus.
Police were last night said to be hunting at least two people including a man who appeared to have used a sub-machine gun following the dramatic incident.
The moments leading up to the shooting showed two bare-chested men who looked like tourists making a run for it before the gunman, thought to have got out of a car an accomplice was driving before they made their getaway, appeared on the scene.
Local reports said three shots were heard ringing out.
The drama happened in broad daylight around 6pm in the vicinity of the Cristamar shopping centre, home to shops, offices, and restaurants, in the heart of Puerto Banus which at this time of the year is thronging with tourists from the UK and Ireland.
Police were last night said to be hunting at least two people including a man who appeared to have used a sub-machine gun (pictured) following the dramatic incident
The gunman (pictured) was seen firing towards a restaurant in the Costa del Sol holiday resort of Puerto Banus
The drama happened in broad daylight around 6pm in the vicinity of the Cristamar shopping centre
The shots are said to have been fired into an eatery which has not been named.
Miraculously no-one was injured. There are no reports of any arrests so far.
Unconfirmed reports say the getaway vehicle used in the shooting may be a BMW which was found gutted nearby.
Investigators are understood to be trying to determine whether it was set alight deliberately and caused a wildfire which emergency responders were called to put out around 7.30pm yesterday.
Police sources said last night no arrests had yet been made and an investigation into the shooting was ongoing.
READ MORE: Spanish cops arrest man over fracas that led to death of bouncer at TOWIE star’s Marbella restaurant as locals daub eatery with ‘killer’ and ‘Mafia’ graffiti two years after it was gutted ‘in arson attack’
They did not confirm initial local reports the gunman fired at unidentified targets sitting on the terrace of an eatery, although it has been confirmed the shooting happened in the vicinity of the Cristamar shopping centre.
The fire emergency responders were called to tackle, which is being linked locally to the apparent deliberate setting-alight of a getaway vehicle thought to have been used after the shooting, started shortly after the incident.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control around 7.30pm.
One unconfirmed local report said the vehicle was a BMW X3 with number plates registered to a motorbike.
On May 17 two men dressed in black entered a cafe in San Pedro Alcantara a short drive from the scene of today’s (TUE) incident and fired at two others sat on the terrace before fleeing. No-one was injured in the incident.
The car the gunman used as a getaway vehicle, described at the time as a dark blue BMW, was set on fire near the scene.
Six British men were held at the start of February following the attempted murders of three Irishmen at a lake called Turtle Lake near Marbella in September last year.
One of the Irish targets, a 24-year-old who has been described as a pal of a Dublin gang boss known as Mr Flashy, was shot in the leg. The other two were unharmed.
Police described the crime at the time as the work of a criminal gang specialising in “settling scores.”
The shocking incident occurred in an area home to shops, offices, and restaurants, in the heart of Puerto Banus which at this time of the year is thronging with tourists from the UK and Ireland
Police sources said last night no arrests had yet been made and an investigation into the shooting was ongoing
One of the six Brits detained was an unnamed 32-year-old who was bailed and then held again in April following the death of a doorman at former Towie star Elliott Wright’s Costa del Sol restaurant.
There is no suggestion at this stage the shooting incident is linked to the tussle at Elliott Wright’s restaurant which led to the doorman’s death or the earlier shooting at Turtle Lake.
In July last year a man was stabbed and four people shot at Opium Beach Club in Marbella A 40-year-old Dutch national was arrested after the early-hours July 18 drama.
One of the most seriously-injured victims was a 32-year-old Irishman who after hospital treatment was arrested on suspicion of being involved in an altercation moments before the shooting in a VIP area of the stage where South African DJ Black Coffee was playing to a packed crowd.
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