Ardea shooting, “that’s how we broke into the house”

The repeated attempts at a telephone contact with the killer failed, the armored door detonated with a micro-charge, the use of assault dogs who found him already dead on the ground, in a bedroom. The commander of the Special Intervention Group (Gis) of the carabinieri, in an interview with Adnkronos, traces the raid of the men of the special forces of the Arma in the house, where Andrea Pignani, the computer engineer who shot yesterday, had barricaded himself and killed the two brothers aged 5 and 10, Daniel and David Fusinato, and the 74-year-old Salvatore Ranieri, before taking his own life in a villa in Colle Romito in Ardea in the province of Rome. “The territorial weapon had already prepared the ‘belting’ of the target. We were not afraid he would flee”, says the GIS commander, adding: “We did not know what situation we would find once we entered: it was not confirmed whether he was alive or if he had shot himself. . It was a typical intervention, with a high level of threat and for this reason we have taken all the measures to secure the personnel who operate “. Before the raid, contact with the killer was attempted several times. “The territorial negotiators – explains the commander – have tried several times to contact him on the phone but he never answered, there was also an attempt through family telephones, but the calls went blank. Even our negotiators, before entering, they tried one last time by telephone to do everything possible to avoid the break-in, but in the absence of an answer the prosecutor and the provincial commander gave us the go-ahead to enter “. At that point the break-in began by detonating the armored door: “We were forced to place an exploding micro-charge on the armored door, then we used other exploding and stunning artifices that resulted in further noises similar to those of a weapon from fire, but there were no gunshots. ” “Since we exploded the charge we have had no reaction inside, no noise – observes the commander of the GIS – We also used assault dogs. One of the dogs identified the man, he was dead, on the ground, in one of the rooms. In all, the raid lasted 10 seconds “. The men of the GIS, which is based in Livorno, went into action in just two and a half hours from the alert. “We were alerted by the general command around 12.30 and went on the spot,” observes the commander. From Livorno “we left for the nucleus of Pisa where two helicopters of the Carabinieri were waiting for us, dedicated to the prompt use of the GIS, on board of which we arrived in the landing area, located next to the place of the event. aircraft landed at 14.55, the second five minutes later “.” This is a sign of efficiency, the weapon’s device works because behind there is a whole machine made up of pilots, of the personnel of the territorial weapon who prepared our I arrive on the spot “. The commander wants to emphasize the synergy with the territorial weapon: “They were really good and did a great job from a technical point of view. They kept the situation very calm and in these cases it is very important; the area was well enclosed. , a clear command place was created where we interfaced as soon as we arrived and where the provincial commander, the investigative team and the prosecutor were “. “The weapon of the carabinieri gave an efficient and immediate response” despite the “sadness of the facts” that occurred. The men of the GIS are used to intervening in extreme and high-risk situations, such as the release of hostages or the capture of dangerous fugitives . And then they are the protagonists of raids such as yesterday’s in Ardea or, in 2018, in Qualiano, in the Neapolitan area, where a man barricaded himself at home after killing his mother. And every time, in addition to professionalism and technical preparation, there is the human side, what one feels in front of similar tragedies: “It is the emotion of a father in seeing little bodies on the ground. They are strong emotions. We try to remain lucid. We intervene to achieve a goal, the capture of the subject, with the minimum of collateral damage “.” Our staff is highly selected, before the technical and tactical aspect, the human aspect – continues the Commander – They are very balanced guys, with their heads on their shoulders and reserved: there are no Rambos, they do not seek visibility “, the commander continues.” We intervene in unpleasant situations, but we are called to be able to give security, a prompt, fast and effective in moments when there is chaos and insecurity “, concludes the commander.