Dying in the center of Udine, hit by a punch after intervening to break up a fight. It really happened. The victim, Shimpei Tominaga, is a 56-year-old Japanese entrepreneur active in the designer furniture business.
In the late evening of Tuesday 25 June, brain death was confirmed, after Tominaga was hit by a punch on Saturday 22nd while he was intervening in defense of a person attacked in the historic centre, in via Pelliccerie, during a fight between some young people who arrived in the city from the province of Treviso. In an attempt to defend one of them, Tominaga was punched by the most agitated of the attackers and fell to the ground, hitting his head violently. Hospitalized under code red, there was nothing that could be done for him. He leaves behind his wife Chinatsu and a 13-year-old son.
Those responsible for the attack were immediately tracked down by the police: for three of them – a twenty-year-old from Mareno di Piave, accused of having thrown the punch, a 22-year-old and another 20-year-old from Conegliano – the investigating judge of Udine validated the arrest, with precautionary custody in prison.
De Toni: «Strong actions to restore peace and serenity»
Tominaga presented himself as a person very attached to the city of Udine; on social media, numerous photos in the city’s clubs, some wearing the Udinese shirt.
«His loss represents a serious and painful wound for Udine» stated the mayor of the Friulian capital, Alberto Felice De Toni, in a post on Facebook. “In an era in which too often we remain indifferent to others, his sacrifice represents an example of humanity and courage, values that our society increasingly needs.”
«The fight against crime and violence – concluded the mayor – requires a great commitment and today more than ever in Udine we need to restore peace and serenity in our city, also with strong actions that help guarantee the safety of citizens .»
The words of his deputy echo the mayor Alessandro Venanzi: «You cannot and must not die like this! Acts of violence like this cannot be tolerated.”
The parish priests: «An educational alliance must be started»
“We need to intervene immediately, before the situation deteriorates.” This is what he told “La Vita Cattolica”. mgr. Luciano Nobile, archpriest of the Cathedral of Udine and urban vicar. “When faced with such facts, the first feeling is sorrow and then prayer for the victims and their families”, comments Mgr. Nobile, who also spoke about this in last Sunday’s Holy Masses.
He also spoke at our weekly magazine Don Giancarlo Brianti, parish priest of the BV del Carmine Parish in the station area. «Security is a real problem. Leaving the house isn’t always so simple: especially on Saturdays, from 5pm onwards, it’s a disaster.” Don Brianti notes how, in general, «a liquid microcrime is spreading, a widespread increase in violence that cannot be identified in defined categories – the drug dealer, the refugee, the minor – which must be analysed. We are facing an educational emergency. Therefore, together with the necessary containment and repression phase, an educational alliance must be launched which must involve schools, parishes, sports associations on a shared educational project, with direction that can only be from the municipal administration”.
