THREE WOMEN, INCLUDING a friend of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, were killed in Rome on Sunday in what may have been a dispute over housing.
Four others were also wounded after a gunman allegedly opened fire at a board meeting of his apartment building’s residents in a northern district of Rome.
The suspect shooter, 57-year-old Claudio Campi, is said to have used a Glock pistol that was stolen from a shooting stand.
In a post on his blog in November, he wrote of his conflictual relationship with the people managing the building, who he accused of trying to force him out of his lodgings.
Of the three women who died of their wounds, one was Nicoletta Golisano, 50, mother of a 10-year-old boy, who was attending the meeting as treasurer.
Meloni revealed on Instagram they were friends and paid tribute to “a protective mother, a sincere and discreet friend, who was also a strong and fragile woman”.
The killer had been arrested, Meloni said, adding she hoped that “justice will quickly follow its course”.
“For me she will always be beautiful and happy like this,” the Italian PM wrote in a caption alongside a photograph of her and Golisano.
Meanwhile, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri called an emergency security meeting after what he called “the grave episode of violence that has struck our city”.
In a tweet, he confirmed three people were killed in the shooting at a coffee shop in the working-class neighbourhood of Fidene.
“The shooting occurred in an enclosed outdoor seating area of the bar, called ‘Il Posto Giusto,’ or ‘The Right Place.’”
La Repubblica daily quoted witness Luciana Ciorba, vice president of the apartments board, as saying the man entered the bar shouting “I’ll kill you all,” and then opened fire.
People at the meeting managed to disarm him until Carabinieri police arrived.
Speaking in a video interview, Ciorba said the man was known to board members and had been previously reported to authorities for making threats against local residents.
-With additional reporting from Press Association and AFP
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