Spain's Leon Government Head Shot Dead in Broad Daylight

Isabel Carrasco, the head of local government in Spain's province of Leon, was shot dead in the regional capital with the same name.

The incident happened just after 5:00 PM, in broad daylight, according to Spain's daily El Pais.

Carrasco was walking to the Popular Party headquarters in Leon when a woman, later detained, fired at her in the street.

El Pais, citing investigators, reports two women were involved, one aged 55 and her 35-year-old daughter, which the police managed to arrest. The two women are the wife and daughter of a police inspector in Astorga, a town in Leon.

Personal motives, such as revenge, are considered to be behind the murder, Spain's Interior Ministry says. The younger of the two detainees was dismissed from the local government in 2011 after her internship contract there expired.

The ruling Popular Party (PP) cancelled its campaigning events for the European elections scheduled for Tuesday. Socialist PSOE, which expressed official condolences for the death of Carrasco, took the same decision in a move of solidarity.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy condemned the murder and said he and his fellow citizens were profoundly disturbed by the event.

Prior to heading Leon's local government, Carrasco, 59, had spent years working for taxation and financial institutions in the province.

She was elected leader of the local branch of the PP in 2004 to take the rule in Leon three years later.