Horror in Spain over the death , which occurred yesterday morning, of an 11-year-old boy , killed while playing football with some peers at the hands of a man who, with his face covered, stabbed him.
It happened in Mocejòn ( Toledo ), in Castile-La Mancha, where the search for the murderer, who fled on board an old grey Ford Mondeo, has been ongoing for 24 hours .
Agents of the Madrid Civil Guard have joined the manhunt , which is involving the Castile-La Mancha force, the national police, helicopters and a diving unit, as the prefect, Milagros Tolon, reported in statements to the media. Tolon assured that the security forces are working "against time" to arrest the attacker , but added that "I cannot say anything more because the investigation has been classified" and "there is a lot at stake".
At this time, the motive for the attack carried out yesterday at 9:45 against little Mateo remains unknown . "The child was playing with his best friend and another boy on the soccer field when the killer entered the complex. It seems through a hole in the wire fence at the back of the field. The two friends managed to escape. Mateo didn't make it," was the reconstruction made yesterday by Asell Sànchez-Vicente, 39, cousin of Lùa Sànchez, Mateo's mother, in his role as spokesperson for the family.
Another uncle of the little boy , Alvaro Martin, who was playing a paddle tournament in the same sports complex, realizing that something was happening , rushed to the soccer field and was among the first to help Mateo , El Pais reports.
Mateo was a well-known and beloved child in the small town in the province of Toledo , where his family runs one of the two bakeries. And he was a great soccer fan, a sport he played in the youth team of CD Modejòn. Flags at half-mast and a black mourning flag flutter on the balcony of the Town Hall, which has declared three days of official mourning and where a minute of silence has been called for 12:00 today in homage to the very young victim of the attack.
