Public prosecutor’s office opens inquiry
A magistrate with the public prosecutor’s office is understood to have shot a man suspected of trying to rob a jewellery store in Valença last night.
The shots hit the man in the stomach and wrist.
According to reports, he went into cardiorespiratory arrest – and it was the magistrate who undertook CPR to ‘bring him back’.
With signs of a pulse returned, the injured man was transported to hospital in Viana do Castelo, where he is now in intensive care.
As for what a magistrate was doing at an alleged break-in, Jornal de Notícias explains that he was in the company of GNR police who were investigating a group of five men, all foreigners, suspected of having carried out various robberies on jewellery shops in Spain and Portugal.
The surveillance operation became an intervention only after the five were seen entering Cacho jewellers in Avenida Miguel Dantas, at around 7pm last night.
According to JN, when it became clear that the men were threatening the owners at gunpoint, one of the GNR agents shot into the air as he and his colleagues entered the premises – but the magistrate let off two shots after one of the gang members is understood to have threatened him with an iron bar.
In the confusion, the other suspects made off, but were later apprehended.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has since confirmed that it has opened an inquiry to determine the criminal responsibility of the magistrate, who is in charge of this particular case.
The case opened after a break-in two weeks ago at a jewellers in Ponte de Lima, also in the Viana do Castelo district. In that particular incident, the owner of the shop also shot one of the alleged suspects who has since been detained by PJ police, suspected of being part of a “vast criminal network of international character”.
In last night’s incident, both the shop owners had to be treated for injuries sustained in the initial assault. One is believed to have been seriously hurt.
Source material: LUSA/ Jornal de Notícias
