The man who is alleged to have stormed two Spanish churches with a machete, killed the verger and injured many priests, was scheduled for deportation but did not have prior convictions, officials said on Friday.
The bloodshed, which took place on Wednesday evening in the southern port city of Algeciras, shocked Spain and left locals in a frenzy.
The alleged attacker was arrested at the scene and police raided his home early Thursday as prosecutors pressed ahead with the terror investigation.
The suspect, identified by a police source as a 25-year-old Moroccan, has “no previous criminal convictions or terrorism convictions in Spain or allied countries” and is not under surveillance, said a spokesman for the interior ministry.
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“Deportation procedures were opened in June” but “due to administrative procedures … implementation was not immediate,” he said.
Local media reports said he lived near two churches that were only 300 meters apart.
Although the Audiencia Nacional, Spain’s highest criminal court, has opened a terror investigation, the government has so far denied the nature of the attack.
Speaking in Stockholm where he met with his European counterparts, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said it was not yet possible to say whether the incident was of a “terrorist nature”.
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But he insisted that “no third party was involved” in comments he sent to reporters.
He will travel to Algeciras in the coming days “to follow the investigation on the ground”, his office said.
– Chase the victim into the street –
The suspect, seen in police footage with a beard and wearing a black, white and gray hoodie, entered the San Isidro church in Algeciras after 19:00 (1800 GMT) “where, armed with a machete, he attacked the priest. , causing him seriously injured,” the interior ministry said.
“Furthermore, he entered the Nuestra Senora de La Palma church, where, after causing damage, he attacked the verger.”
Verger, Diego Valencia, “managed to get out of the church, but was caught by the assailants outside and was mortally wounded,” he said.
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The two churches are a few hundred meters apart and are located in an area very close to the port in this city with a population of 120,000.
Emergency services said the priest suffered a wound to the neck.
His parishioner identified him as 74-year-old Antonio Rodriguez and said he had been celebrating the Eucharist at the San Isidro church when he was attacked, describing his condition as “serious but stable”.
– Spanish church attackers shout, throw icons –
A police source told AFP the assailant was wearing a long robe at the time and had “shouted something”.
Eyewitnesses told local media that he ran shouting to Nuestra Senora de La Palma and started throwing icons, crosses and candles on the floor.
The mayor of Algeciras announced a day of mourning with residents invited to gather outside the second church where the verger died for a rally against the bloodshed that will begin at noon (1100 GMT).
Algeciras is the main port serving ferries and other ships traveling between Spain and Morocco and its citizens are outraged by the massacre.
For Juan Jose Marina, the parish priest of Nuestra Senora de La Palma, the idea of an attack was unimaginable “because our relationship with the Islamic world in Algeciras is good and we have never had any problems,” he told public radio.
“It just defies all logic,” agreed Dris Mohamed Amar, spokesman for the local Muslim community, who spoke on the same radio program, saying he hoped “it is an isolated case by a demented madman and not premeditated”.
In comments to journalists, Cesar Garcia Magan, who heads the Episcopal Conference bringing together Spain’s main bishops, described the attack as “reprehensible, unjustifiable and disgusting” but warned of “the danger of harming certain groups”.
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Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sent his “deepest condolences to the families of those killed in this horrific attack,” as well as wishes for a speedy recovery for those injured, while opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo of the right-wing Popular Party said he was “shocked.” by the incident. .