Prosecution seeks 46-year prison sentence for man who murdered shooting instructor

The public prosecution is seeking 46 years and seven months in prison for Roger L.S., a former soldier who, aged 19 years old in April 2023, fatally shot a shooting instructor five times at the Canovelles shooting range, located 30 km north of Barcelona.

He then fled, hijacking three different cars and forcing their drivers to take him to Granollers, Esplugues de Llobregat, and finally to Murcia, over 500 km away in southern Spain, where he was arrested.

The young man, for reasons still unknown, used weapons from the club, where he was a member, to shoot the instructor at close range.

Afterwards, he used the same weapons to hijack the cars, forcing their drivers to take him to various locations, according to the prosecution's charges,  as reported by El País and seen by the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

Criminal plan

According to the public prosecutor, at around 6.30 pm on April 8, 2023, the man arrived at the shooting range, where he was a member, already with "a criminal plan he had previously devised and for which he needed firearms."

Once there, "in order to disguise his true intentions," he practiced shooting at booth number 2 with a .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol, which he had previously requested.

At around 7.05 pm he returned the weapon and its ammunition and took a .38-caliber revolver, paying for a box of 50 rounds of ammunition.

He also requested a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and paid for 50 more rounds. All of these arrangements were made with J.A.M., the shooting instructor and manager of the club.

He returned to his booth and continued practicing. A few minutes later, he began to watch the instructor, who was cleaning and alone. Around 7.25 pm, the accused stealthily approached and shot the instructor five times at close range. The man collapsed to the ground and died shortly thereafter.

Pursuit

Two minutes later, a club member who had been practicing a few minutes earlier in booth 19 was in the club's bar.

Realizing he had forgotten his glasses, he went back to retrieve them. Upon entering the shooting area, he heard the instructor mumbling, "They’ve killed me, they shot me."

He tried to help and saw the accused rushing to leave the area, so he pursued him.

When the accused saw he was being followed, he stopped, turned around, aimed his gun at the other club member, and pulled the trigger, but the chamber was empty, although the magazine had ammunition.

The pursuer, frightened, slipped and fell to the ground,  and hid in the toilets. The accused continued fleeing, and the other club member was able to help the instructor and call for help.

Hijackings

After leaving the shooting club, carrying both weapons, the accused stopped a passing car, got into the back seat, and told the driver to quickly drive away, claiming that someone was trying to kill him. The driver's wife, sitting in the front seat, told him to get out, but he pointed a gun at her and ordered them to drive away.

The husband drove along the C-17 highway until they stopped at a supermarket gas station near Granollers, where he asked the man to get out of the car.

He did, and at 7.37 pm, saw a woman filling her car with petrol. The accused half-showed her the pistol at his waist, ordered her to stop filling up the car, sat in the front seat, and told her to drive wherever he said.

He used her mobile phone to check if there were any news reports about the shooting instructor's death.

By 8.44 pm, they reached a car wash in Esplugues de Llobregat. He got out of the car and allowed the woman to leave.

He then saw another vehicle, occupied by two friends, entered the back seat unannounced, and showed the gun and ordered them to drive away.

The two women took turns driving and the accused continued giving directions to head south.

Finally, early on April 9, they reached the center of Murcia, where the young man abandoned the car and let the hostages go.

The women, deeply shaken, drove to Molina de Segura (Murcia), where they called the police to report what had happened.

At 8.30 am, the police located the young man near Murcia train station.

When he was about to be arrested, he tried to draw his firearms, but the officers prevented him.

In addition to the two handguns, he was carrying a knife and nearly 50 rounds of ammunition.

The public prosecution is seeking 46 years and seven months in prison for the accused on charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, aggravated theft, and five counts of illegal detention with aggravating circumstances of premeditation.

They are also requesting 10 years of supervised release and a ban on approaching or communicating with the victims or their families for several years.

Additionally, they are demanding €213,000 in compensation for the victims and their families, which may be covered by the shooting club's insurance for failing to have another employee supervising the activity at the time of the events.