A man and a woman in their 30s were found with severe head injuries by a GNR officer on Thursday morning on the access road between the Lake Resort Hotel and the popular Falésia Beach in Vilamoura.
Each had been shot in the head but were still alive when they were attended to by GNR personnel at around 10.30am.
Described as still being 'alive and conscious' the seriously injured pair were rushed to Faro hospital where they remain in critical condition but mystery surrounds the violent events.
It seems that the man and woman, both Portuguese, were once a married couple living in the Alcantarilha/Armação de Pêra area but that things had turned sour and the woman recently had left and has been living in Faro.
What is clearer is that the man shot the woman and then attempted to kill himself, but Judicial Police so far have not confirmed or denied this theory.
The woman, Fátima, has a four year old daughter and works as a therapist in the spa at the Lake Resort and seems to have been approached by her soon to be divorced husband as she went to park her car.
Apparently, each had driven to the beachside area as the two vehicles have been identified.
It is not known whether either of the badly injured locals were able to give police any sort of valid account of today's events as they were taken to hospital by the ambulance service, conscious but badly injured.
