Three women were killed when a man opened fire at a cafe in Rome on Sunday, December 11, injuring four other people, said police, in what may have been a dispute over housing.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni named one of the women killed as her friend Nicoletta Golisano. The other women were Elisabetta Silenzi and Sabina Sperandio.
Of those injured, believed to be two women and two men, one remains in a serious condition.
The shooting occurred in the enclosed outdoor seating area of the cafe, known as II Posta Giusto.
The suspect shooter, 57-year-old Claudio Campi, allegedly opened fire on a meeting of his apartment building’s residents in a northern district of Rome, using a Glock pistol stolen from a shooting stand.
Those inside were meeting as part of a local block’s resident committee. Luciana Ciorba, the committee’s vice-president, was at the cafe in the Fidene district, Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper reported.
She said the gunman had entered the bar on Sunday shouting “I will kill you all” before using his pistol. He was reportedly overpowered by other residents before being detained by police.
Robero Gualtieri, mayor of Rome, described the shooting as a “grave episode of violence” and said he would attend an emergency meeting on Monday.
Prime Minister Meloni sent her condolences to Ms Golisano’s family in a Facebook post saying that Meloni would always remember her friend for being “beautiful and happy”.
“Nicoletta was a protective mother, a sincere and discreet friend, a woman strong and fragile at the same time,” she wrote.
“But above all, she was a professional with a sense of duty out of the ordinary. Nicoletta was my friend. It’s not right to die like that,” she added.
Meloni also said that a shooting range from which the suspect had allegedly stolen the gun used in the attack had been closed and was under investigation.
Police are yet to comment on the motivation of the suspect, who has been named by the Italian press but not officially. The attack is not thought to have been political.
Reports suggest the suspect and the apartment block’s board of residents have been locked in a bitter dispute for some time.
