Living next to La Pegaso, the playground where a minor was shot dead

BarcelonaJust over 12 hours ago, emergency services were attending to the teenager who ended up dying from a gunshot wound to the stomach, now nothing would suggest it is the scene of a murder. As described by Loli, who has lived in the neighborhood for 50 years, Parc de la Pegaso is "an institution" of La Sagrera. Her children used to have their carnival parades in the park, "when there were boats and fish in the lake." Now, she and her neighbor Àngels – who has also lived here for five decades – comment that last night a group of young people opened fire on others in this very park, near the sports courts.

Loli found out in the morning when a neighbor told her. Yesterday, from her window, she saw police cars, but she didn't know what had happened. Àngels did know, because her son called her, who was out on the street and "saw the hearse." Both believe that the neighborhood "is worse," that it is more insecure and there are more homeless people, although they don't quite agree on since when: a few months ago, three years ago, or ten years ago.

"The neighborhood is like all the neighborhoods in Barcelona," comments a worker who says that an incident like yesterday's could happen anywhere, not just in the La Sagrera neighborhood. A pharmacist who works a few meters from the park agrees. Both she and her colleagues walk through it every day to go to and from work, also in the evening, and they also usually go there during their break. Yesterday they had already finished work when the minor died a few meters from her pharmacy, and she assures that when there has been an incident, the police have come quickly. "We've been here for 20 years and we are very calm, and we will continue to be," she states.

Night police patrols since this year

On the same side of the park where the shooting happened yesterday, there is also a nursery school, and there is no longer any trace of the tragic events. In fact, where more officers and police cars are seen is at the other end of the park, where the Guardia Urbana police station for the Sant Andreu district is located. It is just under the large portal that still bears the sign of the old truck manufacturer Pegaso.

To go from the police station to the scene of last night's crime, it would be enough to walk a few meters along Gran de la Sagrera street and a few more along Portugal street. You can also get there by crossing the park, which is closed every night, according to municipal sources. This Friday at noon, there are not many people. A dozen children playing football under the sun. A woman taking advantage of the shade of the trees while watching three children playing on the zip lines. Two municipal gardeners tending to the park's vegetation. There is also an elderly man, with a cane, watching the ducks in the pond and a boy resting stretched out on a bench. The giant squid-shaped metal slides are now empty, but there are some children playing on the swings. In fact, this is a very family-friendly space.

As of this year, the district has its own night unit, with urban guards active during the night shift on Fridays and Saturdays. Previously, this night shift was shared with the police stations of Horta-Guinardó and Nou Barris.

According to municipal sources, in this park the Guardia Urbana officers carry out "ordinary prevention, proximity, and coexistence maintenance tasks that correspond to any public space in the city." They emphasize that other incidents that may occur at this location are not necessarily related to yesterday's incident, which is being investigated by the Mossos d'Esquadra and described as "a direct action".

A few months ago, ARA reported that residents of Parc de la Pegaso claimed to see more Mossos officers in the area, especially at night. The police had identified a youth group in the area, and from time to time there were fights and scuffles. In one of the cases, some residents explained, someone was carrying an axe. But by the end of April, the neighborhood feeling was that the police presence had reduced these situations.