After hours of struggle and a complex operation, Caterina Ciurleo, the elderly woman hit by a bullet yesterday afternoon while she was in the car with a friend in via Don Primo Mazzolari, in the Villaggio Prenestino area, on the outskirts of Rome. Her condition immediately appeared very serious and her heart stopped beating yesterday morning. The 81-year-old, originally from the province of Reggio Calabria, underwent a very delicate surgery in which the bullet casing and part of her lung were removed. But despite the doctors’ efforts there was nothing that could be done.
Meanwhile, investigators have tracked down the man accused of pulling the trigger. This is a 28-year-old stopped by the policemen of the Rome flying squad, coordinated by the magistrates of the district anti-mafia directorate. For those investigating, he was the one who shot several times. The police found five shell casings on the asphalt. And the hypothesis is that the shots were fired from a single gun: a 380 caliber. It cannot be ruled out that it was a settling of scores between convicted felons. According to the officers, the victim was not the target of those shots, but she would have been shot by mistake.
From an initial reconstruction, a chase between two cars was underway on Thursday afternoon when a red Fiat, with two men on board, opened fire towards a Golf. Unfortunately, at that very moment, the moving Smart car with Caterina on board and one of her friends at the wheel was in the path of the bullet. The bullet went through the trunk and passenger seat of the car, hitting her in the back.
The police are also examining the images of the area cameras that may have filmed those moments and the license plates of the two cars that were chasing each other. There was anger and dismay among Caterina’s family and acquaintances, who was killed while she was returning to her home in Torrenova after going to visit a friend of hers.
Widow and originally from the province of Reggio Calabria, Caterina had lived in the capital for many years. Yesterday evening, to express solidarity with her family, a demonstration was organized at the site of the tragedy. This was announced by the president of Municipality VI Nicola Franco. “Together with Don Antonio Coluccia we decided to give an immediate response to what happened – said Franco –. We will be present in the form of a demonstration to reiterate the need to increase security measures for our territories”. For Franco, in his municipality there is a “need for resources and security. If necessary, even the army” he underlined.
