A BRITISH man has narrowly escaped death after being shot at least three times in an underground car park on the Costa Blanca.
Investigators say around 15 bullets were fired at his vehicle during the botched hit.
The attack took place in an underground garage at about 10pm last night in the Lomas de Cabo Roig area of Orihuela Costa, north of Torrevieja.
The 32-year-old victim was hit in the arm, leg and chest.
He has since been identified locally as Peter F, though said to have previously used the name Sonny.
Despite his injuries, he still managed to raise the alarm by alerting a neighbour once the gunman fled.
He was then rushed to Torrevieja University Hospital and admitted to intensive care, where he remains in a “serious” condition.
Local reports suggest the victim is one of two British men arrested last year over an armed robbery at a San Fulgencio cannabis club.
He was allowed to leave prison on bail around a fortnight ago.
Police said: “The Civil Guard has arrested two men belonging to a criminal gang and accused of an armed attack with submachine guns on a cannabis club in San Fulgencio.”
Following the hold-up, officers said the pair allegedly blackmailed the manager “to try to gain control of the business and threatened to kill him if he reported them to police”.
According to investigators, the club’s manager reported that several men raided the premises and took 600 euros and 5,000 euros worth of cannabis products.
Police added that after the robbery the two men demanded a payment of 25,000 euros and 50 per cent of any future earnings.
The manager initially hesitated to go to authorities because “his life had been threatened”.
The gang allegedly ramped up the fear factor by sending “videos showing submachine guns and [telling] him they would target him and his family if he didn’t play ball.”
Detectives eventually identified two suspects.
A 33-year-old in San Fulgencio and a 32-year-old man who managed to escape the clutches of the police, went into hiding and changed his name
When officers eventually tracked him to Orihuela Costa on April 8, “he resisted arrest and managed to enter the home of an elderly couple he took hostage during his attempts to escape”.
He is now under investigation for extortion, robbery, unlawful detention, resisting arrest and membership of a criminal gang.
In subsequent searches, firearms and pink cocaine were recovered, including at the cannabis club where the armed robbery took place previously.
The shooting is now being probed as a likely settling of scores between rival gangs.
However, the Civil Guard has not yet issued an official comment on the latest attack.
It is the third major act of violence in the area in recent months.
In May, an Irishman was critically injured after being shot in the head near the La Zenia Boulevard shopping centre.
Two suspects were arrested a fortnight later.
In June, another 29-year-old Irishman was stabbed in the neck from behind while taking a leak near the same location, surviving only after emergency surgery.
A 58-year-old Irishman was arrested in July over the knife attack.
