The commemoration ceremony took place on Friday 10 May in memory of the death of the Deputy Superintendent of the State Police Pietro Caligiuri who fell in the performance of duty, in the small hamlet of Accaria di Serrastretta, a few steps from his home, at the age of 39 years.
On 10 May 1996, Caligiuri, despite being free from duty, with generous enthusiasm rushed to the aid of some people injured by a man in a homicidal rage and, regardless of his own safety, tried to convince him to abandon the weapon.
Then, in an attempt to prevent even more serious consequences to the detriment of those present, he confronted the madman to disarm him, but was hit by numerous gunshots, losing his young life.
Pietro Caligiuri, with the sacrifice of the most precious good, life, exalted and gave concreteness to expressions such as “sense of duty” and “spirit of sacrifice”, demonstrating a profound internalization of the values that had inspired his entire professional career, since oath taken upon his commissioning in 1978.
On 19 May 1997, the President of the Republic, for the heroic gesture, awarded the Deputy Superintendent Pietro Caligiuri the Gold Medal for Civil Valor in memory, and with a subsequent Decree of the Minister of the Interior of 23 May 1997, he was recognized the qualification of “victim of duty”.
28 years after the murder, the family members, the Prefect, the Police Commissioner of Catanzaro, the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Lamezia Terme Dr. Salvatore Maria Curcio, his colleagues and the local authorities remembered him with a solemn mass held at the SS Cathedral. Pietro e Paolo of Lamezia Terme officiated by the Chaplain of the State Police Don Alessandro Nicastro.
Before the religious ceremony, the Police Commissioner of the province of Catanzaro honored the fallen members of the State Police by placing a cushion of flowers on the stele of the fallen members of the PS, located inside the police station of Lamezia Terme.
Representatives of the trade union organizations and the National Association of State Police were also present at the commemoration.
