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| Carabinieri at the scene where the shooting took place |
July 14, 2023, Padua. Shortly after 2:00 PM, a patrol from the Radio Mobile Unit of the Carabinieri Company of Padua intervened following a call to 112 on Vicolo Castelfilardo, where a resident had reported the presence of her Albanian ex-partner in the street. The woman had been separated from him for years and had already filed a complaint against him for his harassing behavior, Italian media say.
According to the reconstructed information so far, the military personnel on the scene, after contacting the caller, identified the man aboard a light blue van and, after identifying him, asked him to move away. The individual engaged the reverse gear, giving the impression of complying with the request, but suddenly accelerated in the first gear and drove straight towards the military personnel, managing to hit one of them who became trapped between the aggressor's vehicle and the service vehicle. The man then exited the van and, brandishing a switchblade, attacked the injured military personnel who had fallen to the ground. In those chaotic moments, the colleague, pointing the service weapon at the agitated man, unsuccessfully ordered him to desist. When he had no other choice to save his colleague's life, he fired four shots with his standard-issue pistol, hitting the assailant in the torso and lower limbs.
Transported to the hospital, Haxhi Collaku, a 55-year-old Albanian citizen, succumbed to the injuries sustained, while the injured military personnel remains hospitalized due to significant lower limb injuries.