Madrid, July 9 -- Members of the Catalan regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, shot and killed a man in the early hours of Tuesday morning to end a hostage siege in the town of Calldetenes, near Barcelona in north-eastern Spain.
According to police reports, at around 7:00 a.m. local time (500 GMT), the man had barricaded himself inside a house with two hostages, later identified as his mother and brother.
When officers approached the residence, the man opened fire with a hunting rifle, seriously injuring three officers and leaving two others with minor wounds.
Several units of the Mossos d'Esquadra's elite Special Intervention Group were deployed to the scene. Despite repeated attempts at negotiation, the man refused to cooperate...