A 21-year-old man, Paolo Taormina, was killed last night with a gunshot to the head in Palermo, a few meters from the Teatro Massimo, in the heart of the city's nightlife, while trying to break up a fight.
According to initial reconstructions, around 3:30 a.m., a small group of youths started a fight among the tables of the "O Scruscio" bar, owned by the parents of the murdered boy. Some youths were beating another youth when the victim intervened to calm things down.
Taormina appeared to have managed to break up the fight, but suddenly one of the gang members pulled out his gun and fired a shot at close range, aiming at the victim's forehead . The group then fled on scooters. The alleged perpetrator of the murder was arrested in the Uditore neighborhood. He is a young man, Gaetano Maranzano, who was at his home with his partner. He confessed to the crime to the Carabinieri who tracked him down on Via Nino Geraci , saying he had met the victim by chance the previous night while he was intervening to break up a fight. Taormina—this is Maranzano's version of events—had previously harassed his partner, but upon seeing him, he lost control and struck him. Investigators are verifying his version of events.
"But how can you do it?" the victim's mother screams in despair. "What's the motive? They've destroyed my life. How can you shoot a boy in the head? How can I live now? You've taken away my hope ."
One of the young men present at the time of the tragedy said, "There was a fight. Ten of them were beating a boy. Paolo came out and told them to stop and move because they had work to do. It seemed over, when one of them hit him at close range. He was working, he was working. He was earning his living. How can you kill him over a trivial fight?"
Tension is high at the mortuary of the Policlinico Hospital in Palermo, where the body was taken. An autopsy will be performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine to determine the cause of death.
The crime scene is known as "Champagneria." It's a popular weekend hangout for thousands of young people, who hang out in front of dozens of bars where they mostly drink alcohol. Brawls and fistfights have broken out in the area several times, prompting police and Carabinieri intervention.
(Unioneonline/D)