Algeria police chief murderer’s health between recovery and coma

Reports were different about the health of the killer of Algeria’s national police chief as it is said he is recovering while other reports say he is in a coma.

• Colonel Choaib Weltache shot Ali Tounsi in his office in Algiers on Thursday. Immediately after killing him, he attempted suicide.
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• Weltache, 64, is the chief of the police’s aviation unit. He is a retired colonel from the Popular National Army. He joined the police thanks to the DGSN’s head Ali Tounsi and held his position in 2003.
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• The police’s aviation unit is located far from the police’s headquarters. The DGSN is based in Bab El Oued in Algiers while the aviation unit is located in Dar El Baida. That means the man used to come to the DGSN’s headquarters to attend meetings and to see Ali Tounsi.
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• On Thursday, it was said the murderer had an appointment with the victim in his office. A skirmish between them would have taken place before Tounsi had been shot dead.
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• A release from the Algerian interior ministry says the Colonel was killed in a work meeting. “M. Ali Tounsi died in a work meeting and the criminal was in nervous agitation. He was experiencing a manic episode and used his gun to kill the Colonel Tounsi. Then, he shot himself causing serious injuries and was hospitalised.”
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• According to other sources, the killer is a “calm person” while others say there is a family relationship between the two men. It is also said they live in the same area in Hydra in Algiers.
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• Earlier in April in 2007, the murderer dismantled a car bomb next to Tounsi’s home.