A Moroccan national who stole the gun of one Italian police officer and shot at another while shouting “Allahu akbar” has been killed.
The incident occurred shortly after 11 a.m. on Monday morning in Fara Vicentino, a small town in the northeastern province of Vicenza.
According to local media, the North African attacker was causing a disturbance in the street and alarming passers-by as he continuously shouted “Allahu akbar,” leading some eyewitnesses to alert the local police.
Two police officers attempted to calm the attacker down without success and were forced to restrain the man. It is at this point the attacker grabbed a firearm from the holster of one of the police officers and began “shooting wildly,” according to Il Giornale newspaper.
One officer, named as 41-year-old Alex Frusti, was injured in the altercation and rushed to the hospital with gunshot wounds. He was reportedly shot in the foot and the chest and was immediately sent for surgery. The police officer’s injuries are understood to be serious but not life-threatening.
The Moroccan national was neutralized by police.
“The agents were doing their routine rounds and called the carabinieri because they needed support,” explained Maria Teresa Sperotto, mayor of the town. “At that moment, the incident must have happened. I regret it for everyone, both for the person who died and for our agent who was injured,” he added.
Roberto Ciambetti, president of the Veneto regional council, said: “The shooting in Fara leaves us dismayed: Today is a moment of pain, of solidarity with the wounded local police officer, Alex Frusti, and with the carabinieri involved in an incident as dynamic and dramatic as it was unpredictable.
“I am close to the family of the injured officer and his colleagues. Regardless of many other considerations, we must never forget the difficulty in which the forces of order find themselves operating every day, and how the degree of danger in their prevention and control activities in a high-risk area such as ours requires constant supervision.”
