Spanish police searching for man suspected of killing 11-year-old boy on football pitch

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Spanish police launched a search on Sunday after a 11-year-old boy was killed in a knife attack on a football field.

The attack took place at the Angel Tardio sports centre in Mocejon near Toledo city at around 10am when the victim was playing with other children.

The suspect, said to be a young man of around 18 years, rushed onto the pitch with a sharp object charging at the children, the Olive Press reported. He was wearing a hoodie.

The victim, who was not named, fell to the ground and went into cardiac arrest. Emergency responders were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene, the news outlet reported.

Residents claimed the field was closed but the children sneaked in through a broken fence.

A Civil Guard search team aided by helicopters was looking for the suspect as they investigated the motive of the attack, BBC News reported.

Mocejon mayor Concepción Cedillo condemned the killing and declared three days of mourning.

"It is a sad day, with a town broken by pain, and if every murder is painful, how much more so the murder of an innocent child who was playing football with his friends this morning,” he said.

Mocejón is a municipality of about 5,000 people in Castile-La Mancha, whose president Emiliano Garcia-Page also called for swift action.

“I hope the perpetrator of the crime will be found and brought to justice as soon as possible. These situations are unacceptable and must result in a just punishment,” he said.