California Man Confirmed Dead in Barcelona Attack

Jared Tucker was celebrating 1-year anniversary with wife
By Gina Carey,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2017 8:00 AM CDT
California Man Confirmed Dead in Barcelona Attack
Heidi Nunes-Tucker and Jared Tucker seen in Barcelona just an hour before the attack.   (Twitter)

The California man missing in Barcelona after a car rammed into pedestrians in a popular tourist area is among the 13 killed during the terror attack, his family confirmed Friday. Jared Tucker, 42, and wife Heidi Nunes-Tucker were celebrating their first wedding anniversary on a European trip through France, Italy, and Spain. After enjoying drinks at an outdoor patio on Barcelona’s famed La Rambla, Nunes-Tucker separated from Tucker to browse jewelry stands while he went to look for a restroom. "Next thing I know there's screaming, yelling," she told NBC News. "I got pushed inside the souvenir kiosk and stayed there hiding while everybody kept running by screaming." Nunes-Tucker returned to the promenade after the attack, but couldn’t locate her husband.

“We love Jared, we love you, and we are grateful that in this time of turmoil in this world we can still band together in a time of need and support each other,” Tucker’s family wrote in a statement confirming his death to the Washington Post. Tucker’s father, Dan, says it was his son’s first time in Europe. "I'm not angry, necessarily. But more importantly, I don't understand it," he said. "It's hard to understand how anything like that can happen. And what's really bizarre is, what are the chances?" Per NBC News, Thursday’s attack that left over 100 injured was one of three incidents believed by officials to be connected in Spain. Five attackers wearing bomb belts were shot dead by police soon after the van attack in a seaside resort southwest of Barcelona, while an explosion killed one person Wednesday night in a town 100 miles southwest of the city. (More Barcelona attack stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X