Moments of fear this morning in Mestre in front of the “Le porte” shopping center, where an attempted assault with shooting took place on a “Civis” security van .
A 59-year-old security guard was seriously injured , hit in the groin by two gunshots fired by the criminal. The bandit came forward while the 59-year-old was transferring some bags of money taken from the continuous cash register of the business into the armored car. He waited for him near one of the emergency exits and a quick scuffle ensued: the vigilantes managed to hit the robber in the head with the butt of his pistol, who shot him twice , hitting the guard in the lower abdomen.
Immediately taken to the nearby hospital of the Angelo, the 59-year-old from Civis was operated on , and in any case declared out of danger.
The bandit , a fifty-year-old resident in Friuli, was not seriously injured in the head and was stopped by the police of the Venice Police Headquarters, who intervened in a few minutes. It remains to be ascertained whether the criminal had accomplices : witnesses reported seeing two people leave immediately after, but they could also have been customers on the run out of fear.
According to investigative sources, it is therefore probable that it is a solitary bandit , with specific precedents, who for some time had been keeping an eye on the movements of the Civis vans, perhaps counting on the "surprise" effect.
The time, mid-morning on a Saturday dedicated to large shopping, naturally magnified the effect of the criminal act, which took place in front of dozens of people who went to the shopping center.
The former Auchan, renamed "Le Porte", is one of the most famous and popular hypermarkets of the Venetian mainland. On days like these it can attract thousands of people. So, when the 2 gunshots were distinctly heard, there was a general stampede , with people throwing themselves to the ground looking for shelter, in the entrance hall, behind the cars in the parking lot.
"There were moments of panic and a stampede because two gunshots were heard distinctly", says a woman, who adds: "I was collecting clothes from the dry cleaner and I ran outside where I saw the armored car and the security guard wounded and bleeding on the ground. Other people ran without understanding what was happening. "
The courage of the vigilante , and his colleague, who reacted promptly, without firing a shot, helped to avoid risks for customers and employees of the center. When the panic subsided, those who ventured into the square could still see the bloody vigilantes, and on the ground a man, blocked by the other colleague.
The security guard, initially defined in very serious conditions, was urgently transported to the Ospedale all'Angelo, which is no more than 200 meters away. Here is the surgery that saved the 59-year-old.
(Unioneonline / vl)
