Man shot dead on Carrer Balmes in Barcelona

A man has died after being shot in the head on Carrer Balmes in Barcelona on Wednesday morning.

The incident took place around 10am in front of the National Police station that processes the national identity documents and passports.

Sources explained to the Catalan News Agency that the perpetrator left the gun hidden near the scene of the crime, at a bus stop in Plaça Gal·la Placídia.

The Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, have pointed out that the crime is not linked with the visit of the Pope.

Sub-inspector Sergi Riera, deputy head of the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi police station, spoke to the press from the scene on Wednesday morning.

The victim is a middle-aged man who was found lying on the ground. The police are looking for the perpetrator, who fled after shooting the victim.

A woman found the man's body and notified the police.

The Mossos gave no more details about the reason for the crime, nor about the fact that the incident took place in front of a police station.

Sub-inspector Riera specified that, after receiving the warning, the Mossos went to the scene and found the victim "lying on the ground with bullet wounds."

The shooting took place in a built-up central part of the city, very close to a school.

Last Sunday, another man died in a shooting in the Zona Franca, on Carrer Mineria.