Caso Abierto >> periodico digital especializado >> sucesos y cronica negra.: The Lone Gunman: His Confrontations with State Security Forces

The Lone Gunman: His Confrontations with State Security Forces
================================================================================
Carlos Cabezas Lopez on 08 May, 2007 11:00:00
 
For  this hit he had chosen a secluded, small town branch, late in the morning
when  the most money would be out of the safe.    With the meticulousness that
characterizes him when carrying out his  robberies, he showed extensive
knowledge of the banks security measures as  well as those of the transit
police.  However,  he  inexplicably committed a mistake, or perhaps he
underestimated the risk of  robbing a bank branch next door to the local police
station at the hour when  the officers were changing shifts.
When the banks silent alarm went off, the police mobilized immediately, their
ranks doubled by those officers going on duty. The moment the robber came out
of the bank with the money in hand, he found himself face to face with four
police officers. The police rushed him and an intense shootout began.  While
the Lone Gunman fled his pursuers fire, he never stopped shooting his handgun.
     The shooting was so intense that one policeman accidentally killed one of
his partners.  The two policemen had taken cover behind a row of parked cars. 
They stood up at the same instant to resume fire and the officer in back shot
the other in the nape of the neck.  This is one of the murders that the media
attributes to the Lone Gunman, even though the policeman has been sentenced and
police toxicologists have discounted that the bullet that ended the officers
came from the robbers weapon.
As           he raced for his vehicle, the Lone Gunman took a bullet, but the  
        impact was absorbed by the bulletproof vest he always wears under his   
       clothes.  When he got to           his 4x4           he grabbed a
machinegun, the same weapon with which he would take down           the Civil
Guards in Castejón, and threatened his pursuers.
This           first direct confrontation with state security forces left one
officer           dead and another three injured.  The           Lone Gunman
showed himself to be highly experienced and cold-blooded           when
carrying out his robberies.
Where was he coming from and where was he going on May 9, 2004 when he crossed
paths with two Calahorra traffic cops?
This is hard to determine, as the highway he used leads to and from many
places.  What is clear is that he carried with him his machinegun and wasnt
wearing his habitual disguise.   Two officers of the Civil Guard tried to stop
him for a traffic violation as he circulated on the N-122, in the municipality
of Castejón (Navarra).  When the Lone Gunman saw that a patrol car was
following him, he let it catch up with him and just as it drew alongside, he
opened fire with his machinegun.  He fired 23 rounds backwards through the open
window, landing every single bullet inside the patrol car and killing one of its
occupants and mortally wounding the other
Oddities:   *The machinegun still hasnt been identified in the weapons
databases of the FBI or the Spanish Police.  Could it be an artisanal weapon,
or a conventional weapon thats been customized?
*In his entire criminal career, The Lone Gunman has kept using the same
weapons, instead of getting rid of them.   Isnt he in touch with arms
traffickers, so as not to leave clues, or does he simply not have a source?
Lone         Gunman Sketch
* During the confrontation with the police in Vall duixo he found himself face
to face with an armed security guard.  Although pointed the gun to his chest, he
shot him first under the arm and in the leg.  Even though the guard kept on
shooting, the Lone Gunman spared his life, putting his own in danger.  Years
later, he murdered in cold blood two Civil Guards who he considered a much
minor threat.  Did he really want to kill them, or did he only shoot to
intimidate them? If he really intended to kill them, because they saw his face,
there is no doubt about his aim.  Then why consider him a common criminal with
luck?
*Does he really act alone, or does he have accomplices in the provinces where
he operates?  If he really acted alone, how could he know banks security
measures when there is no surveillance video to link him to any patrons who
entered the banks in the days leading up to the robberies?
By Carlos Cabezas López
(Spanish Version)
Related Links : Guardia  civil ; Lorenzo  Silva
Related Reading: SILVA, L. Líneas de sombra.Madrid:Imago  mundi, 2005. 23
balas, p.103-113.