Jobless Italian shoots two policemen after failure to strike politicians
Jobless gunman who 'wanted to shoot politicians' wounded two officers while new cabinet was being sworn in at palace
Two Italian police officers were shot outside the prime minister's office in Rome today by a lone gunman while the country's new premier, Enrico Letta, was being sworn in across town, police said.
The gunman had acted out of anger with politicians, one of the prosecutors working on the case said.
"His intention was to strike politicians," deputy Rome prosecutor Pierfilippo Laviani said.
Laviani said the "desperate" gunman had "lost work, had lost everything" and "wanted to shoot politicians, but given that he couldn't reach any, he shot the Carabinieri" police at the edge of Chigi Square.
The man, identified as Luigi Preiti from the southern region of Calabria, wearing a jacket and tie started shouting "Shoot me! Shoot me!" and opened fire on the officers without warning, witnesses told SKY TG24 television.
Preiti was subdued by police and taken into custody without a shot being fired by the officers.