Three women, one of whom was a friend of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, were shot dead when a man opened fire at a Rome cafe, also injuring four others.
The group inside the cafe were attending a meeting for a local block’s resident’s committee.
“This was a grave episode of violence,” said Roberto Gualtieri, Rome’s mayor, who has stated that he will attend an emergency meeting later today.
The prime suspect, a 57-year-old man with a history of disputes with the aforementioned committee’s board, is currently in police custody.
Italian daily La Repubblica reported that the committee’s vice-president, Luciana Ciorba, was present at the Fidene district cafe.
Ciorba said that the assailant entered the establishment screaming “I’ll kill you all” before opening fire. He was then reportedly outnumbered and detained by other residents before police arrived and arrested him.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni confirmed via Facebook that one of the victims of the shooting was her friend, Nicoletta Golisano. The other two women were named as Elisabetta Silenzi and Sabina Sperandio.
Offering her condolences to Golisano's family on her official Facebook page, Meloni commented that she would forever remember her friend as being "beautiful and happy".
"Nicoletta was a protective mother, a sincere and discreet friend, a woman strong and fragile at the same time," she said.
"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 continued.
"Nicoletta was happy, and beautiful, in the red dress she bought for her 50th birthday party a few weeks ago. For me she will always be beautiful and happy like that."
