Spanish gunman who was left paralysed after rampage that injured four dies by lethal injection BEFORE his trial after arguing his right to die with dignity trumped his victims’ right to justice
- Eugen Sabau, 46, went shot and wounded three former colleagues in December
- He also shot and wounded a police officer during his attempted escape
- Police later stormed a house Sabau was hiding in shooting him several times
- Sabau pleaded to die because he was paralysed and left in constant pain
Spanish prison authorities euthanised a man who had shot and wounded four people in December and was subsequently wounded in a shootout with the police, rendering him paralysed and begging to be allowed to die while awaiting trial.
Eugen Sabau, 46 was badly injured following the shooting rampage in Tarragona which left three of his former colleagues and a police officer with gunshot wounds. Police shot Sabau several times, leaving him paralysed from the neck down and with one leg after the other was amputated. He was also in chronic pain since the incident in December 2021.
Courts have allowed the man’s assisted death after rejecting several appeals by his victims who argued that he had to face justice. The case even reached the Constitutional Court, which refused to deliberate on it, saying there has been no violation of fundamental rights.
Eugen Sabau, 46 was badly injured following the shooting rampage in Tarragona which left three of his former colleagues and a police officer with gunshot wounds in December 2021
Sabau, pictured, was left paralysed after a shootout with police which also saw a leg amputated and left him in chronic pain due to his injuries
Spain legalised euthanasia just over a year ago, preceding which helping someone to end their life had carried a jail term of up to 10 years.
According to El Pais newspaper, in the year since the law came into on June 25, at least 172 people had used the right to assisted death.
Disgruntled former security guard Eugen Sabau, 46, shot three of his colleagues, including a woman, at the security services firm where he had worked in the northeastern city of Tarragona, and then wounded a police officer while making his escape.
Sabau successfully applied to the court to undergo assisted euthanasia because of his medical condition. His death means his victims will never see him in court
After he barricaded himself in a house with an arsenal of weapons, a tactical police unit stormed the place, shooting Sabau several times.
The ‘Gunslinger of Tarragona’, as the Spanish media referred to him, was left a tetraplegic, had one leg amputated, and the wounds caused chronic pain that could not be treated with painkillers due to his fragile state and which he said made his further existence unbearable.
A court in Tarragona ruled that it was Sabau’s fundamental right to request euthanasia considering these circumstances.
Penitentiary authorities confirmed Sabau’s death on Tuesday, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.
The prison authorities were unavailable for comment and Sabau’s lawyer did not comment.
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