Oviedo: Search for Manuel Ferrero, 64, after killing police officer with bomb-laden rucksack
The National Police are searching in Oviedo for Manuel Ferrero Álvarez, 64 years old, accused of shooting at a minor and leaving an explosive rucksack that killed an inspector. Authorities fear he remains armed and may be entrenched.
Intensive search following homicide with explosive in Oviedo
The National Police deployed a search operation in Oviedo on Tuesday to locate Manuel Ferrero Álvarez, 64 years old, following an incident that left one police officer dead and a second officer seriously injured. According to police sources speaking to El Confidencial, Ferrero fired several times at a minor aged 17 and abandoned a rucksack containing explosives at the scene.
The deceased inspector was Juan José Rodríguez Rodríguez, assigned to the Canine Unit since joining the Police Academy in 1990. The explosion, which occurred at number 2 Calle Rafael Urrusti in Villafría, also killed the officer's dog, Deny. A second member of the bomb disposal unit (Tedax) was seriously injured and underwent emergency surgery at the hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition.
Authorities mobilised the GEO and the Special Operational Security Groups (GOES) based in La Coruña. According to sources within the operation, the reinforcements respond to fears that Ferrero remains armed and may be entrenched if located. Controls were established at exits from the city and buildings were searched in different areas.
Ferrero's record includes around a dozen previous convictions since 2010, all for minor offences and misdemeanours: threats, theft, assault, property damage and coercion. The most recent of these dates from 2026. Police sources indicate that a neighbourhood dispute was the origin of the conflict that erupted in the early morning hours. When officers arrived at the scene following the shootings, they found the suspicious rucksack and activated the standard explosive device neutralisation protocol.
He was born in February 1962 and during the operation his wife was detained, accused of a homicide offence. Oviedo Council declared two days of official mourning for the death of the officer and the injuries suffered by the second police officer. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, expressed that he felt "deeply shocked" by the events and sent his condolences to the affected families and the injured minor. The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, described what had happened as "devastating".
Source: El Confidencial