A man stabbed a PSP agent at Bela Vista station, in Lisbon, and was shot in the legs after trying to escape through the railway line. The suspect, known to be troublesome, and the officer are not in danger of dying.
Circulation on the red line of the Metropolitano de Lisboa reopened after being interrupted for about five hours, the company said on the social network Twitter.
The line that connects the stations at the Airport and São Sebastião was closed between around 6.30 pm and around 11.30 pm on Thursday, due to a police chase.
According to a note from the PSP in Lisbon, the agents were called at 6.07 pm this Thursday to Avenida Vergílio Ferreira, in Marvila, “because there was news of an individual with aggressive behavior there”. Arriving at the scene, inside a building on that artery, the police officers “came across the suspect who was wielding a large bladed weapon, a serrated knife”.
The 54-year-old man fled towards the Bela Vista Metro, “wielding the knife and threatening” everyone he passed. Already on the platform, the suspect tried to throw himself onto the railway line, but was stopped by one of the policemen. It was at this moment that the suspect struck one of the police officers with a serrated knife, cutting the uniform in the abdominal area.
According to the PSP, the individual managed to free himself and enter the Metro line, pursued by the police. The individual would eventually cease fleeing, “turning towards the policemen” and advancing towards them. “Despite repeated orders and warnings to drop the weapon, he advanced towards the police, with the knife in his hand with a clear intention of aggression”, argued the PSP, in a statement.
“In view of the seriousness of the threat, and in addition to the warning shots, there was a need to use a firearm against the suspected aggressor, in a less lethal way, hitting him in both legs”, reported the PSP. “Immediately, the police provided first aid to the citizen and called for medical assistance. The detainee was transported to the hospital, where he remains free of danger and under police custody, for future presentation to the Judiciary Authority”, reads the document.
“One of the police officers involved in the incident was also taken to the hospital to receive treatment, due to a fall during the chase, but without seriousness”, the PSP also informed.
