Vatican, by car forces a passage. The gendarmes shoot at the tyres

Moments of fear next to St. Peter. A man did not respect the halt and entered the state aboard a Panda. Stuck, he’s in custody. This is a 40-year-old Italian

– Milan

Moments of fear Thursday evening in the Vatican. A man forced one of the entrance gates with a Panda and then entered at full speed, turning the life of the small state upside down. He did not listen to the halt of the Swiss Guard or the Gendarmerie who were at Porta Sant’Anna, the gate from which the raid occurred. To stop him, the agents had to shoot at the tires of the car but, running wildly, the man still managed to get to the Cortile di San Damaso with his vehicle, practically the entrance to the Apostolic Palace. Here he got out of the car and was arrested. The area of ​​Santa Marta where Pope Francis lives was promptly secured. An episode of which a similar precedent is not remembered.

what happened

According to an initial reconstruction of the facts, the Fiat utility car reached the entrance to Sant’Anna at the Vatican after having traveled the wrong way via di Porta Angelica. Regardless of the indications provided to him by the Pontifical Swiss Guard, which prevented him from entering the State without the relative authorizations, he temporarily left the entrance and, after having maneuvered, returned at high speed, forcing the two checkpoints, of the Swiss Guard and of the Gendarmerie of the Vatican City State. In an attempt to stop the car, the Gendarmerie inspector, guarding the gate, fired a pistol shot at the front tires of the vehicle. Despite having hit the vehicle on the left front fender, the car continued its run. The alarm code having been quickly broadcast by radio, the guardhouse closed the Door of the Mint, which allows access to the rear of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican gardens and Piazza Santa Marta. In the meantime, the car has reached the courtyard of San Damaso, practically arriving at the entrance to the Apostolic Palace, which is practically empty at night because Pope Francis has chosen to live in Santa Marta. The man got out on his own and was blocked and placed under arrest by the Gendarmerie Corps.

psychic problems

He is about 40 years old and, from what we learn, he is of Italian nationality and has mental problems. He was immediately subjected to a visit by the doctors of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, who, in fact, found a serious state of psychophysical alteration. The person is in a prison cell in the new premises of the Gendarmerie barracks, at the disposal of the judicial authorities.



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