Man fatally stabbed outside La Mina bar

A 52-year-old man, Mohamed Aloun, was fatally stabbed after a fight outside the Hikari bar on Carrer de l'Astronàutica in La Mina, Sant Adrià de Besòs, on Wednesday afternoon. The killing adds to residents' safety concerns after recent firearms incidents in the neighbourhood, where bullets have previously struck private homes, according to reporting by Mayka Navarro.

The Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's regional police, have assigned the Northern Metropolitan Police Region's homicide group to the investigation. Officers took witness statements on Wednesday and obtained images of the suspected attacker, the report said.

Fight began outside the Hikari bar

Aloun was sitting at an outside table at the bar when he began arguing with another man at a nearby table, according to the report. The confrontation became physical and continued to number 23 on Avinguda Manuel Fernández Márquez, where Aloun collapsed.

The report said he was stabbed twice, including a fatal wound to the heart. Witnesses stopped a Barcelona Guàrdia Urbana patrol car, whose officers began resuscitation attempts before the arrival of the Sistema d'Emergències Mèdiques, Catalonia's emergency medical service.

Police operation follows earlier shootings

The report said Aloun had 39 police arrests recorded, mostly involving Mossos d'Esquadra officers in Badalona and Sant Adrià de Besòs. It also said he had recently spent time in La Mina and had been involved in a serious altercation with another person the previous week.

Police have recently stepped up operations in La Mina after a series of firearms incidents involving rival groups. The report said the Badalona police station, which oversees the Sant Adrià de Besòs station, and the Northern Metropolitan Police Region had introduced the La Mina Action Plan, including operations to identify suspects and court-led investigations that have seized firearms.

On 12 May, three shootings were reported in one day following an assault outside the neighbourhood.
An investigation led by Badalona's senior magistrate, Josep Maria Noales, resulted in the seizure of seven firearms, ammunition and a large amount of cash, according to the report.
Residents who witnessed Wednesday's attack alerted officers by stopping a Guàrdia Urbana patrol car.

Reported by Mayka Navarro, Afons Sarrias Intendente ABP Badalona, Ángela Vázquez, elperiodico.com, cronicaglobal.elespanol.com, Fede Cedó, Germán González,Jordi Ribalaygue, Sergi Llanas, J. M. Alonso, Exa, taketonews.com, Carmelo Encinas, hillforlg.com, Missy Wilkinson, lavanguardia.com.