2 police shot outside Italian premier's office

ROME (AP) ? Two Italian paramilitary policemen were shot and wounded Sunday in a crowded square outside the premier's office in Rome as Italy's new leader was being sworn in elsewhere in the city.

The shooting took place shortly after 11:30 a.m., just as Premier Enrico Letta and his Cabinet were taking their oaths at the Quirinal presidential office.

Reporters inside the Chigi Palace press office, about a kilometer (half-mile) away, heard the shots and raced outside. An AP television producer saw the two wounded Carabinieri officers in the square outside the palace. One of them lay on the pavement with blood pouring out of his neck. About 10 bullets littered the square next to the palace, which houses the offices of the premier and other government officials.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said a third person, a woman who was passing by, was also injured. It was unclear how, but the shooting produced panic in the square as people tried to flee.

It was not immediately clear if there was any connection between the shooting and the swearing-in, but tensions have been running high following inconclusive elections in February that left Italy in political deadlock for weeks. Letta, 46, nailed down a coalition deal only a day earlier between his center-left forces and the conservative bloc of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

The suspected gunman, dressed in a dark business suit, was immediately grabbed by other police in the square, wrestled to the ground and then taken away. Italian news reports said the man is Luigi Prieti, a 49-year-old man from the southern region of Calabria who now lives in the northern Piedmont region..

New Justice Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri said the attack "has the appearance of being carried out by an unbalanced man" but she did not elaborate on the evidence for that claim. Until being sworn in Sunday, Cancellieri was the interior minister in charge of state police.

Sky TG24 TV quoted the man's brother as saying the alleged attacker had lost his job in a construction firm and was upset over marital problems.

An aide to Foreign Minister Emma Bonino told reporters at the presidential palace that the new Cabinet members were kept briefly inside for security reasons until it was clear there was no immediate danger.

The new interior minister, Angelino Alfano, went to the Rome hospital to visit the policeman who was wounded in the neck.

Sky said the alleged gunman was also taken to the hospital. The suspect was seen with a protective collar around his neck, indicating he might have been injured,

The shooting immediately sparked ugly memories of the 1970s and 1980s, when domestic terrorism plagued Italy during a time of high political tensions between right-wing and left-wing blocs.

The new Cabinet ministers were seen smiling in a group photo as news of the shooting broke and it was clear they weren't immediately aware of the attack.

"The news arrived after the swearing-in," said Dario Franceschini, one of the new ministers. "Premier Letta is following the situation."

Metal fencing closes off Chigi Square, which flanks Via del Corso, one of Rome's most popular streets with strollers. But the public can cross the square by showing identification, although sometimes passersby cross it without being stopped. It was unclear if the assailant had asked permission to enter the square.

Rome was jammed Sunday with tourists and residents enjoying a warm sunny morning on the last day of a four-day weekend.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-police-shot-outside-italian-premiers-office-115304512.html

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