Thursday, 11 September 2025, 20:58
Tensions were mounting among the close family and friends who were anxiously waiting in Prado Negro in Spain’s Granada province and following the Guardia Civil’s negotiations with a man who had barricaded himself inside the house of a woman whose husband he had allegedly just shot dead on Tuesday 9 September.
After a long night, the alleged killer finally released Lourdes after more than 12 hours of negotiations with specialised police negotiators. Lourdes was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and the 61-year-old man was arrested by the Guardia Civil.
The first vehicle to leave the scene was the ambulance in which Lourdes was apparently travelling. Subsequently, a car marked Guardia Civil left the scene, presumably with the alleged perpetrator of the murder and kidnapping.
The incident began to unfold at around four o’clock on Tuesday afternoon, when the sound of gunshots in the quiet area of Prado Negro became the prelude to an afternoon and evening of tension and pain. Pedro, a local resident, allegedly rammed his car into the vehicle in which Juan and Lourdes, his neighbours, were in. He then fatally shot Juan, who died at the scene.
Pedro apparently forced Lourdes to get out of the car and go into her home, a few metres from where the shots were fired. He then barricaded himself inside the house, presumably armed, with Lourdes as hostage. A long afternoon and night of vigil ensued, with a large police deployment and scenes of disbelief and grief among acquaintances and relatives.
Two local residents found Juan’s body. “What we have seen we will never forget in our lives,” they told SUR’s sister newspaper Ideal, while trying to remain calm.
They found Juan’s body in his car. “When I saw Juan, I called his name several times, but he didn’t answer, he was dead. He took her out by force”, the neighbour told Ideal, still visibly traumatised by what they had seen. “If he had seen us, he might have shot us too,” he added.
Witnesses told Ideal that the kidnapper had left “a notebook with the reasons why he had done it” in his own car, something that will have to be confirmed by the Guardia Civil. They all agreed that Pedro, the alleged murderer, was waiting for the couple and acted without giving them time to react.
Although the exact timeline of the events was unclear, the calls reached the Guardia Civil shortly before 4pm. More than fifty officers were sent to the scene, including a team from the special intervention unit, an elite group specially trained to act in this type of kidnapping or in operations against terrorism.
Police cordon
The police cordon kept onlookers, locals and journalists several hundred metres away from the house where Pedro held Lourdes. Firefighters, Civil Protection volunteers and medical personnel, including an 061 air ambulance, were on the scene.
While local residents spoke fondly of Juan and Lourdes, saying that they were very dear to them, they did not speak the same way about the alleged kidnapper, who they described as a “stranger” who had caused problems in the past. Apparently, they had quarrels over issues in the countryside. “We know what he’s like, he’s crazy and lost,” said another woman. Locals suggested that the man had “rifles or shotguns” in the house.
As the hours progressed, some resources began to be withdrawn, such as the fire brigade and the 061 helicopter, which cannot fly after nightfall. Silence surrounded a house to which only a relative of the woman held inside had access. First, the agents asked her to remain silent. Next to the house, the Guardia Civil negotiators tried to approach the barricaded man. The main objective was to get Lourdes out of the house alive.
Sources close to the case explained to Ideal that there is no precise protocol in these cases, there is no set number of hours to intervene. Decisions are taken depending on how the negotiations develop.