A Police manhunt operation is going into its second week in Portugal.

Last Tuesday, one suspect killed two people (one policeman and one civilian) and left another two (also, a policeman and civilian) severely wounded. The suspect, named Pedro Dias, 44 years old is on the run ever since, in spite of the massive police deployment all around Northern Portugal in order to get him.

The violence applied and the dimension of the escape are unusual to Portugal, where violent Crime has a low rating according to international standards.

The case

Two policemen were attacked after demanding a van driver to pull over, to check his ID. According to Portugal News, he was already suspect of an attempt of robbery in a local establishment. One of them was killed in the act. The other was taken, badly wounded and alive, by the suspect in the police car.

According to a portuguese newspaper (Correio da Manhã), the surviving cop told later that the suspect intended to attack the local police headquarters, but eventually gave up on that and abandoned the car and himself, wounded.

Apparently, the suspect abandoned the police car and took another one by carjacking, shooting the innocent couple on board. The man died and the woman remains in critical condition. This happened in Aguiar da Beira, a small town in Central Portugal.

The great escape

Portuguese police mounted an operation that took them to a hilly region, 60 miles long from the town where the killings happened, deemed to be the suspect's hometown. People from surrounding villages were told to stay at home and there were reports of locals making contact with him.

However, and in spite of the all the men deployed, the operation was dismantled.

Approaching the weekend, there were reports suggesting that he could be in Salamanca (Spain).

The authorities did not disclosed how they got this information. However, yesterday (Sunday, October 16) the suspect stole a car in a small village near his hometown. Amazingly, the latest reports are that this stolen car was abandoned in the city of Vila Real, another 60 miles to the North.

The whole story is generating public surprise, given the usual profile and effectiveness of Portuguese killers, way lower than this one. A meme appeared on the internet, with the suspect's face (as shared by the police), depicting a fictional version of Grand Theft Auto named "Aguiar da Beira Edition", to the town where the suspect first committed his crimes.

 Others say that the suspect is the Portuguese Rambo, in a reference to the movie "First Blood", with Sylvester Stallone.

Crime in Portugal

The Iberian country is being revered as one of the safest in the world. A study conducted by the Institute for Economics and Peace, according to The Week, place her in the 5th place overall, only behind Iceland, Denmark, Austria and New Zealand.

Around 2010, there was a violent crime wave in Algarve, where Eastern European mobsters were attacking English and other foreign (and wealthy) residents. However, the Portuguese authorities were able to terminate quickly that threat.

According to the Portuguese TVI station, there is a medical report of 2011 stating that the suspect is a sociopath. He was then sentenced for domestic violence, but it was suspended.