Savona, man in his nineties shoots wife aged 86: woman in intensive care
A man of nearly one hundred years old shot his wife during an argument in their flat in Savona. The woman is hospitalised in critical condition; her husband is accused of attempted murder.
Gunshot in central Savona: wife in intensive care, husband accused of attempted murder
Shortly before seven in the morning, neighbours in a building in central Savona heard raised voices and then one or two gunshots. According to ANSA Cronaca, when carabinieri opened the door to the first-floor flat, they found an 86-year-old woman on the ground, covered in blood, and her husband — a man of nearly one hundred years old — still standing, with several wounds to his arms and face.
The woman was stabilised at the scene by a 118 ambulance service doctor and transported urgently to Santa Corona hospital in Pietra Ligure, where she remains hospitalised in intensive care in critical condition. The man was transferred to San Paolo hospital in Savona for treatment.
After receiving medical care, carabinieri took him to the barracks, where he was questioned in the presence of the public prosecutor. The elderly man was subsequently accused of attempted murder and entrusted to relatives, in a situation equivalent to house arrest.
In the couple's flat, carabinieri conducted initial investigations and found the weapon used: a semi-automatic Beretta pistol, for which the man had only a possession permit, not a firearms licence. The pistol was seized.
The motive remains to be clarified. It has not been established whether the shooting occurred during an argument — an impulsive act — or whether the man acted out of "pietas" towards his wife, who suffered from severe senile dementia. To carabinieri, the elderly man stated that after firing he would have wanted to take his own life, aware of what he had just done.
The emergency services had been alerted by the couple's relatives, who were in turn notified by neighbours who had heard the argument and gunshots. Two ambulances, two 118 ambulance service emergency vehicles, carabinieri, and officers from Savona's local police attended the scene.
Source: ANSA Cronaca