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Knife attacker shot by police near Barcelona Knife attacker shot dead by police near Barcelona
(about 2 hours later)
A man wielding a knife and shouting in Arabic was shot dead as he entered a police station south of Barcelona, Spanish authorities said on Monday. A man wielding a large knife and shouting in Arabic targeted officers on Monday at a police station south of Barcelona, in what police are calling a terrorist attack.
The attacker, said to be 29 and of Algerian origin, had gone into the building at 05:52 (03:52 GMT) and was shot by an officer on duty. The attacker, said to be 29 and of Algerian origin, was shot dead as he lunged towards officers, said police.
Catalan police said the attacker had targeted officers. Spain's north-east Catalan region has been marking the anniversary of the 2017 jihadist attack on Barcelona.
He had shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest), reports said. However, police said they had found no evidence the incidents were linked.
The attacker lived in the town of Cornellà de Llobregat, just south of Barcelona. He had been living in Spain for several years and had a foreigners' identity number, reports said. The attacker, identified locally as Abdelouahab Taib, approached the police station in the town of Cornellà de Llobregat at 05:52 (03:52 GMT) on Monday, buzzing the intercom and demanding to be allowed in.
He was named as Abdelouahab Taib by Spanish media, which said he had no known criminal record and lived with a Spanish woman. When a woman officer behind a reception window opened the door, the man lunged at her "with a clear intent to kill", Police Commissioner Rafel Comes told reporters.
The attacker had walked through the building's entrance where he was immediately challenged by a woman officer with the Catalan force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, and by a sergeant on duty, police sources told the Efe news agency. When the man rushed forward, he was shot. The man shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) as he rushed forward.
The officer opened fire and the attacker was fatally wounded, the commissioner said, without saying how many shots were fired. The officer had used a gun to save her life, he said, although it was unclear if she was behind a glass partition at the time.
"For now we are treating it as a terrorist attack," he said, although he stressed there was nothing at this stage to link him to the jihadist cell involved in the attacks on Barcelona's Las Ramblas venue on 17 August last year and Cambrils hours later.
Sixteen people were killed in the twin attacks and the man who drove a van into civilians on Las Ramblas was eventually tracked down and shot dead on 21 August.
Abdelouahab Taib had been living in Spain for several years and had a foreigners' identity number. He had no criminal record and lived with a Spanish woman, although local media reported that they had begun divorce proceedings.
Members of the Catalan police force and other authorities searched the man's home a short distance from the police station while his partner was questioned.
Police stations across Spain were put on alert as a result of Monday's incident.Police stations across Spain were put on alert as a result of Monday's incident.
Members of the Catalan police force and other authorities searched the man's home a short distance from the police station while his partner was questioned, local reports said. Spain has been on its second highest terrorist alert level - four out of five - since June 2015.
The attack came three days after the anniversary of the 2017 jihadist attacks in the centre of Barcelona and nearby Cambrils in which 16 people died. Teresa Cunillera, the Spanish government's representative in Catalonia, had earlier refused to be drawn on the motive for Monday's incident until police had investigated further.
The attacks saw a man drive a van into civilians on Las Ramblas in the heart of Barcelona on 17 August. He was eventually tracked down and shot dead four days later.
Teresa Cunillera, the Spanish government's representative in the north-eastern region of Catalonia, refused to be drawn on the motive for Monday's incident until police had investigated further.
"Reaching conclusions is very hard before they have carried out the minimum of checks and looked into the motives," she told Spanish radio."Reaching conclusions is very hard before they have carried out the minimum of checks and looked into the motives," she told Spanish radio.