Two members of the Mossos d’Esquadra special intervention unit have been formally processed by a Catalan investigative judge over an operation that ended in the shooting of a former security guard who had wounded four people in Tarragona and Riudoms in December 2021.
GEI Operatives Face Magistrate Inquiry Over 2021 Standoff
The judicial inquiry into the police operation centers on the actions of the Grup Especial d’Intervenció during the final confrontation on Dec. 14, 2021. According to court filings, the investigative magistrate overseeing the case has processed two specific GEI officers who discharged their firearms during the standoff.
A Tactical Response Under Judicial Scrutiny
The instructor described the tactical response in the judicial documents as “out of control, disproportionate, and with a purpose that could go beyond neutralizing Sabau, which was to riddle his physical integrity.”
The investigation originally examined all eleven officers involved in the tactical neutralization of the gunman, narrowing down the processing to the two shooters.
From Tarragona Workplace Shootings to Rural Barricade
The sequence of events began on Dec. 14, 2021, when Marin Eugen Sabau, a former employee of the security firm Securitas, entered his former workplace in Tarragona armed with a firearm. He shot and wounded three former colleagues before fleeing the scene.
During his subsequent escape, the gunman shot and injured a Mossos d’Esquadra officer. He then barricaded himself inside an isolated farmhouse in Riudoms, a municipality in the Baix Camp comarca of Catalonia. The standoff concluded when the Catalan police elite unit stormed the rural property and shot him.
Euthanasia Closes Criminal Cause While Police Probe Continues
The 2021 shootout left Sabau with severe injuries.
