Judge among four killed in Italy courthouse shooting
10 April 2015 6:22 AM IST
Fernando Ciampi was killed when the gunman, identified as fraudulent bankruptcy defendant Claudio Giardiello, fired four or five shots at him and at several witnesses at the trial in Italy's northern business capital.
Besides Ciampi, a lawyer named Lorenzo Alberto Claris Appiani and a third unnamed victim died in the attack, emergency services said. Another defendant at the trial who was wounded in the attack reportedly died later in hospital, while a witness was critically injured and two people suffered a cardiac arrest.
Police evacuated hun dreds of people from the courthouse building after the attack and Giardiello managed to escape on a motorbike. He was arrested by police in the town of Vimercate, 25 km from Milan, Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said in a message on Twitter.
Giardiello, 57, is an Italian facing bankruptcy charges. Dressed in a jacket and tie, he reportedly opened fire after Appiani, his lawyer, said he could no longer represent him in the case.
"It is disturbing and incomprehensible how anyone could enter the courthouse with a gun," said Roberto Maroni, governor of the surrounding Lombardy region, commenting on the attack.
"We express our profound dismay and pain at the tragic events at Milan's courthouse," said the Italian magistrates association in a tweet.
As many as four people are reported to have died after a man opened fire at the Palace of Justice in the Italian city of Milan before being arrested. Officials said the gunman, identified by local media as Claudio Giardiello, was a defendant in a bankruptcy case.
The Ansa news agency said he shot a bankruptcy court judge, a lawyer and one other man. The fourth person is thought to have had a heart attack. The suspect was arrested in the suburb of Vimercate as he fled on a motorbike. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the “presumed assassin” was now being held at a carabinieri military police barracks in the Milan area. The incident has prompted questions about security at the courthouse, focusing on how the gunman managed to smuggle a weapon into the building, use it several times and escape.
The sound of gunfire sparked panic inside the Palace of Justice on Wednesday morning, with hundreds of people pouring down stairways towards the exits while police and military police officers searched for the gunman.
“All of a sudden we heard at least three or four shots,” lawyer Marcello Ilia told the AFP news agency outside the building.
“We tried to find out what was going on. There were suddenly lots of police officers who told us not to leave the room, they shut us in,” he said. “After a few minutes we came out. They told us someone in a suit and tie was armed and at large in the court.” Citing officials and witnesses, the newspaper La Repubblica reported that the gunman had been attending a bankruptcy hearing when a fight broke out inside the third floor courtroom.
Besides Ciampi, a lawyer named Lorenzo Alberto Claris Appiani and a third unnamed victim died in the attack, emergency services said. Another defendant at the trial who was wounded in the attack reportedly died later in hospital, while a witness was critically injured and two people suffered a cardiac arrest.
Police evacuated hun dreds of people from the courthouse building after the attack and Giardiello managed to escape on a motorbike. He was arrested by police in the town of Vimercate, 25 km from Milan, Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said in a message on Twitter.
Giardiello, 57, is an Italian facing bankruptcy charges. Dressed in a jacket and tie, he reportedly opened fire after Appiani, his lawyer, said he could no longer represent him in the case.
"It is disturbing and incomprehensible how anyone could enter the courthouse with a gun," said Roberto Maroni, governor of the surrounding Lombardy region, commenting on the attack.
"We express our profound dismay and pain at the tragic events at Milan's courthouse," said the Italian magistrates association in a tweet.
As many as four people are reported to have died after a man opened fire at the Palace of Justice in the Italian city of Milan before being arrested. Officials said the gunman, identified by local media as Claudio Giardiello, was a defendant in a bankruptcy case.
The Ansa news agency said he shot a bankruptcy court judge, a lawyer and one other man. The fourth person is thought to have had a heart attack. The suspect was arrested in the suburb of Vimercate as he fled on a motorbike. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the “presumed assassin” was now being held at a carabinieri military police barracks in the Milan area. The incident has prompted questions about security at the courthouse, focusing on how the gunman managed to smuggle a weapon into the building, use it several times and escape.
The sound of gunfire sparked panic inside the Palace of Justice on Wednesday morning, with hundreds of people pouring down stairways towards the exits while police and military police officers searched for the gunman.
“All of a sudden we heard at least three or four shots,” lawyer Marcello Ilia told the AFP news agency outside the building.
“We tried to find out what was going on. There were suddenly lots of police officers who told us not to leave the room, they shut us in,” he said. “After a few minutes we came out. They told us someone in a suit and tie was armed and at large in the court.” Citing officials and witnesses, the newspaper La Repubblica reported that the gunman had been attending a bankruptcy hearing when a fight broke out inside the third floor courtroom.
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