[Guest]

Italian police kill football fan

The victim was shot near a motorway restaurant in Tuscany
A football fan has been shot dead by police during a fight between rival supporters in Italy, officials say.
Local authorities said there had been a "tragic error" when police intervened to quell violence between fans of Roman team Lazio and Turin-based Juventus.

The victim, a Lazio fan, was shot during the clash at a motorway rest stop near the Tuscan city of Arezzo.

The Lazio fans were travelling to a match against Inter Milan, which has been suspended following the death.

Other games were starting 10 minutes late with players and officials wearing black armbands.



The Juventus fans were reportedly on their way from Naples to an away match against Parma.

"It was a tragic error," said Arezzo police chief Vincenzo Giacobbe.

"Our agent had intervened to prevent the brawl between these two groups, who had not been identified as fans," Mr Giacobbe said, according to the Italian news agency Ansa.

The victim was identified as Gabriele Sandri, a 26-year-old disc jockey from Rome.

He was apparently shot while in a car outside the motorway restaurant.

Earlier reports said the fan had been killed during the brawl. An investigation is under way.

News of the violence sparked clashes between fans and police in Bergamo, where Atalanta were playing AC Milan.

That match was abandoned 10 minutes after kick-off, when fans tried to smash down a barrier and force their way onto the pitch.

In April the Italian government introduced a law aimed at stamping out football hooliganism.

It was enacted after a policeman was killed in rioting at a match in Sicily in February.

 

[Solsk]

yeah i heard this, trust it to happen in Italy

 

[Jazz 16]

Tragic that this still goes on. Seems to be happening quite frequently....

 

[The_Red_Prince]

They are always at the center of the crime scene.Hope they stop soon though,or they will get accused every time there is violence in Italy

 

[carlyluvsunited]

Italian police are no good....

Look how they treat United boys last year huh......

I am confused though - the dead guy was sat in a car......

No where near the rioting.....

And he got shot by mistake !!!

Quite a big mistake I think

 

[Keano4taoiseach]

Italian police are always on a killing frenzy.......fans are a joke tbh.....

 

[Wazza1989]

i hate Italy...

 

[Keano4taoiseach]

i hate Italy...

Rome is pretty awesome in fairness mate....and the northern lakes....e.g garda are nice also.....

It's just the arrogance of a lot of italian people, whether intentional or not, and the happy frenzy police force.....

 

[Red Devil]

Bloody italians, again!

 

[Keano4taoiseach]

Bloody italians, again!

no pun intended....

 

[Guest]

Lastest update. BBC News 24. 11.47pm. 11.11.2007


Italy fans rampage after killing

Rioters set vehicles alight near Rome's Stadio Olimpico
Italian football fans have reacted violently inside and outside stadiums following the police shooting of a Lazio supporter.
Gabriele Sandri, 26, was shot in what police called a "tragic error" as they tried to stop violence between rival fans at a motorway stop in Tuscany.

A match between Atalanta and AC Milan was stopped as fans and police clashed. There was violence at other games.

Later hundreds of fans rampaged in Rome and there were more protests in Milan.

Bus torched

The worst violence was in the capital, where hundreds of armed fans attacked a police barracks and the Italian Olympic Committee headquarters.



Sunday's late match between AS Roma and Cagliari had been postponed as a precaution but fans wielding rocks and clubs turned up outside the Stadio Olimpico.

Security guards in the Olympic headquarters barricaded themselves in as fans outside smashed windows and burned vehicles as they clashed with police.

The mob blocked off one end of a bridge over the Tiber and ordered motorists to leave the area.

A bus was torched and scores of police were injured.

Fans and police also clashed in central Milan near the offices of the broadcaster RAI.


Gabriele Sandri worked as a disc jockey in the Italian capital

In Bergamo, where Atalanta were playing AC Milan, police and fans clashed ahead of the match.

The game was abandoned 10 minutes after kick-off, when fans tried to smash down a barrier and force their way onto the pitch.

In Siena, supporters shouted "murderers" at police.

There was also violence at lower league games in southern Italy.

Seven of the top league games started 10 minutes late with players wearing black armbands although atmospheres remained tense.

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi called for a full investigation into the shooting and said the violence was "very worrying".

'Tragic error'

Mr Sandri, a 26-year-old disc jockey from Rome, was a Lazio fan on his way to a match with Inter Milan.


The victim was shot near a motorway restaurant in Tuscany

Lazio fans and supporters of Juventus on their way to a match at Parma reportedly clashed at the service station near Arezzo.

Mr Sandri was apparently shot while in a car outside the motorway restaurant.

Police suggested he may have been killed by a warning shot.

The exact details of the shooting are unclear and an investigation is under way.

"It was a tragic error," said Arezzo police chief Vincenzo Giacobbe.

"Our agent had intervened to prevent the brawl between these two groups, who had not been identified as fans," Mr Giacobbe said, according to the Italian news agency Ansa.

The Inter-Lazio game was postponed.

 

[Grif SA]

And they honestly wonder why they didn't get Euro 2012... This has to stop. Yes, they are passionate, as are we all. But you don't see English supporters doing this kind of stuff, nor in Germany, France, or Spain. They can't use 'passionate' as an excuse.

 

[carlyluvsunited]

Riot after cop kills Lazio fan


Furious football fans attacked a police barracks in Italy last night after an officer
shot dead a supporter.

Lazio fan Gabriele Sandri, 26, was hit in the neck as police tried to break up a
clash between rival fans at motorway services in Arezzo, Tuscany.

The incident triggered angry protests across the country and a masked mob
flooded into the barracks near Lazio's Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Windows were smashed and cars parked outside torched. Passengers were
forced off a bus, which was set alight. A number of officers were injuries and
arrests were made.

Police chief Vincenzo Giacobbe said Gabriele's death was "a tragic error" but the
victim's brother, Cristino, was seen on TV screaming: "They killed my brother" as
the family's lawyer branded it "first degree murder".

Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri said: "The death is an immense tragedy."

 

[reddwarf]

Lazio fans have a very bad reputation but for a guy to be shot when he's just sat in his car is terrible. The Italian police are their own worst enemies at times.

I just can't believe that rival fans started fighting when they weren't even playing each other!!!

 

[Justice]

Stop having a go at Italian police! This was totally innocent! They shot a bullet, but only up into the air to get everyones attention, unfortunately what goes up must come down, and did so into that guy. This happened to about 10 people in Iraq after they won the Asian Cup thing but no one seems to care?

 

[reddwarf]

Stop having a go at Italian police! This was totally innocent! They shot a bullet, but only up into the air to get everyones attention, unfortunately what goes up must come down, and did so into that guy. This happened to about 10 people in Iraq after they won the Asian Cup thing but no one seems to care?

Fair enough, but if it's a warning shot then why not fire a rubber bullet?

Using live ammo, no matter which direction it's being shot in, can cause this to happen.

 

[Guest]

Stop having a go at Italian police! This was totally innocent! They shot a bullet, but only up into the air to get everyones attention, unfortunately what goes up must come down, and did so into that guy. This happened to about 10 people in Iraq after they won the Asian Cup thing but no one seems to care?

Nice theory but wrong...



Officer 'rues' killing Lazio fan

Football violence spread to cities throughout Italy after the shooting
The Italian policeman who fired the shot that killed a football fan on Sunday has said his gun went off as he ran to stop rival supporters fighting.
The unnamed policeman, who has been in the force for 12 years, told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he had not aimed at anyone.


Sunday's violence erupted after the shooting of Gabriele Sandri, 26, at a motorway service station.


The Lazio fan, from Rome, was hit by a bullet in the neck as he sat in a car while police tried to stop fighting between followers of his team and Juventus supporters.

Floral tributes and football scarves were laid outside the shop owned by the family of the dead disc jockey in the Italian capital on Monday.

A note posted on the window of the premises read: "Yesterday a disgusting b*****d killed my son. May you be cursed forever."


But the policeman who fired the shot told Corriere della Sera it was a tragic mistake.

The officer said he fired his pistol more than 200m (660ft) away from Mr Sandri, who was sitting in a car on his way to see Lazio play Inter Milan.

"I was not aiming anywhere, I was not pointing at anyone," the policeman was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

"The first shot I fired in the air and the second went off as I was running. What a fool. Now I know what happened, I am devastated.

"Now I have destroyed two families, that of this boy and mine," he added.


Gabriele Sandri earned his living as a disc jockey

An autopsy was being carried out on Mr Sandri's body on Monday.

Italian PM Romano Prodi has called for a full investigation into the shooting, and described the resulting disorder as "very worrying".

The president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said he was preparing to announce major changes.

"It is a day in which there will be major institutional steps taken," Giancarlo Abete told RAI radio on Monday.


Across Italy seven of the Serie A games started 10 minutes late. Players wore black armbands but atmospheres remained tense.

In other developments:

Fans in Milan hurled rocks at a police station and beat up two journalists

In Bergamo, a match between Atalanta and AC Milan was abandoned 10 minutes after kick-off during an attempted pitch invasion

Supporters in Siena shouted "murderers" at police

There was also violence at lower league games in southern Italy.

Italy's league programme was suspended, and some matches were then played behind closed doors.

 

[Red Devil]

The italian fan is an animal; cannot be trained. The incident was no excuse to riot but the italian fan seems to be able to do it any time they feel like it. And its nothing new.

Denis Law in his book talks about the italian hooliganism back in the early 60s. It was labeled the "english disease" in the 70s but its always been the "italian disease".

 

[Keano4taoiseach]

Trigger happy...the lot of them imho...

 

[Guest]

ROME (AFP) -

Italian prosecutors opened a manslaughter inquiry Monday after a football fan was shot dead by a policeman, sparking nationwide riots, as the government urged football officials to consider suspending the championship.

At least 40 police required hospital treatment after the running battles in several cities which newspapers dubbed the return of the "nightmare" of football-related violence.


Vincenzo Giacobbe, police chief of Arezzo near where Lazio football fan Gabriele Sandri was killed, said the current theory was that he had been a victim of manslaughter but that tougher charges could be laid.


"There's a possibility that the categorisation of the crime ... could change for the worse," Giacobbe told a news conference.


Sandri, a Rome disc jockey, was shot in the neck while sitting in a car at a motorway rest area where there had been fighting between Lazio and Juventus supporters, according to police.


Giacobbe said numerous witnesses had told how the policeman aimed at the tyres of the car in which Sandri was sitting.


Sandri's family has called the killing murder.

The policeman, who has not been identified, said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera daily that it was an accident.


The 31-year-old officer said he accidentally fired the fatal shot as he was running, just seconds after firing a warning round in the air.


"I was not aiming anywhere, I was not pointing at anyone," the officer said.


"The first shot I fired in the air and the second went off as I was running. What a fool. Now I know what happened, I am devastated. Now I have destroyed two families, that of this boy and mine," he added.


Interior Minister Giuliano Amato called the incident a "tragic error" and said the "exact dynamic of the facts" was still under investigation.


Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri urged football authorities meeting later Monday to take tough action, "even possibly suspending the championship over the next few weeks."


Speaking after an emergency meeting of government officials and football authorities, Melandri said: "Everyone feels the need for strong and meaningful decisions from the world of football."


The meeting at the interior ministry was attended by the heads of the Italian Football Federation, the League of Professional Clubs and the National Olympic Committee.


"Football values were doubly flouted, because a young fan is dead and because violence broke out," Melandri told reporters.

.