Highway pursuit and confrontation in Terrassa

Two plainclothes Guardia Civil officers sustained gunshot wounds during an armed confrontation in the Catalan city of Terrassa on the night of 1 October 2026. The officers had been carrying out surveillance on an organized group of cargo thieves. These criminals, referred to as teloneros in Spain, specialize in slicing open the canvas tarpaulins of parked or moving freight trucks along major motorways to steal commercial cargo. The police operation turned into a high-speed vehicle tracking operation on the AP-7 motorway, initiating near the Porta de Barcelona service area in Castellbisbal. The pursuit subsequently entered the urban fabric of Terrassa, moving into the southern residential district of Can Parellada. At approximately 22:00, the chase reached Calle Europa, where four suspects turned and confronted the two undercover agents on the public street.

Video records exchange of fire and physical assault

Visual footage of the violent clash, filmed by a local resident and published on social media by the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC), documented the confrontation. The two plainclothes officers drew their service handguns and ordered an armed suspect to drop his weapon while repeatedly shouting that they were Guardia Civil personnel. A second suspect carrying both a shotgun and a handgun immediately intervened and opened fire directly on the officers. One officer collapsed to the ground after sustaining four gunshot wounds. While the wounded officer lay immobilized on the street, members of the gang assaulted him with a stick, shouting demands to see his official police badge to verify his identity. One attacker asked an accomplice for another firearm after discharging his own magazine, before a third suspect told the group to stop the assault and flee the area.

Medical status and institutional response

Emergency medical teams attended to both injured officers at the scene before transferring them to regional medical facilities for urgent care. The officer who received four bullet impacts remains hospitalized in serious condition, although medical staff confirmed his condition is stable and his life is out of danger. The second officer sustained lighter gunshot injuries during the exchange of fire and continues to receive medical attention. Carlos Prieto, the Spanish government delegate in Catalonia, monitored the medical evolution of the wounded agents directly alongside the general chief of the regional Guardia Civil zone. Prieto commended the prompt response of the emergency medical services, the treating hospitals, and the responding Mossos d'Esquadra units.

Police investigation and arrests across Catalonia

The Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) of the Mossos d'Esquadra assumed primary responsibility for the case and deployed specialized investigative teams across the municipality. During the early morning of 2 October, police forces arrested three men on suspicion of participating in the armed attack. Catalan regional authorities confirmed that a fourth suspect involved in the confrontation escaped and remains the subject of an intensive police manhunt. Concurrently, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Guardia Civil maintains an open investigation into the incident and the surrounding cargo theft network. Law enforcement agencies are maintaining operational cordons and tracking measures to locate the final suspect.