The Las Gabias shootings rocked the town and reverberated around the country; a young man had seemingly shot his girlfriend and then ended his own life.

The incident occurred on Thursday the 11th of May at the shooting club there, which is used nationally and internationally.

At first, what had happened was not clear, although facts pointed to the boyfriend; the 21-year-old María del Mar had received a shot to the back of the head from a short distance from where she had been sitting behind the firing line.

The alleged culprit, 24-year-old, José Miguel, had a face wound that showed all the signs of being self-inflicted.

The shots were fired after the young man had finished at the firing line and both were in the range viewing area.

Witnesses say that the couple had been walking around, hand in hand, kissing and that there were no signs of their having quarreled. Neither had any problems with the law nor had there been reports of gender violence in their relationship.

However, since this incident it has come to light that the relationship was indeed problematic. The distraught mother of María del Mar claimed that the boyfriend had “psychiatric problems and abused her.”

She also blames José Miguel’s parents, whom, she claims, convinced her daughter not to break up with him because he might “shoot himself.”

Finally, the same afternoon as the shootings, which took place around nine in the evening, he had gone out with his friends, spending most of his wages, saying that he was celebrating. “He was celebrating that he was going to kill my daughter,” claimed the mother.

(News: Las Gabias, Vega de Granada, Andalucia)