Triggerman arrested for female officer's killing after robbery

Authorities in Madrid on Sunday arrested a suspect wanted in last week's city shootout in which a 62-year-old policewoman was killed.

Police identified him as David Manuel Fernández Rodríguez, 42, who was born in Nancy, France but is a Spanish citizen.

Carmen Muñoz García was riding in a patrol vehicle with her partner last Wednesday as they tried to intercept a vehicle whose occupants were suspected of just having robbed a post office. The female officer was shot in the chest after the suspect opened fire. Her partner, Santiago Lorenzo, 52, was also hit in the arm.

Fernández Rodríguez, who has a long rap sheet, had shaved his head, presumably in an attempt to avoid recognition.

The shooting occurred at around noon in the Usera district in the south of the capital. According to witnesses, the two robbers attempted a getaway from the post office in a Citroën Berlingo but after 500 meters the vehicle encountered a police patrol car, which maneuvered to block the fleeing suspects. Three shots were fired, killing Muñoz García, 62, instantly and wounding Lozano in the right shoulder.

Lozano was taken to the October 12 hospital nearby and was reported to be in a stable condition. The opposition Socialist security spokesman in Madrid, Diego Cruz, condemned the shooting and expressed his concern that officers of the age of Muñoz García "are patrolling the streets."