Lazio player Lorenzo De Silvestri admits he is “heartbroken” after the death of his close friend, fan Gabriele Sandri.
A stray bullet from a traffic policeman’s gun hit the DJ this morning after a minor scuffle between Lazio and Juventus fans in a motorway service station.
“I am speechless,” said De Silvestri as his team left San Siro without playing the planned match against Inter.
“He will always remain in my heart and those of the fans. He was the DJ at my 18th birthday party and from there we became friends. I even gave him my club shirt after the game with Cagliari.”
It emerged that 28-year-old Sandri had sent De Silvestri a text message this morning, just hours before his untimely death at 9am.
“It said he had worked until 6am and was about to set off towards Milan to come and see us play.”
The exact chain of events remains unclear, but his superiors are interviewing the officer who fired the gun this evening.
The authorities insist it was a tragic accident, while Sandri’s lawyer and brother accuse the police of manslaughter or worse.
“In all honesty, I don’t know how it happened,” said De Silvestri, a promising youth product who has already starred for the Biancocelesti in Serie A and the Champions League.
“I am waiting to find out and then would like to say stop, we cannot carry on like this. The more we continue, the more of these incidents seem to happen. Sport has nothing to do with it.”
The tension is sky high in the capital, as a group of around 200 alleged Lazio fans laid siege to a police station with rocks and sticks. There were also fights outside the Stadio Olimpico, where tonight’s match between Roma and Cagliari has been called off.
“It was a tragic mistake,” assured Interior Minister Giuliano Amato. “We are still verifying exactly what happened, but we will identify those responsible without reticence.”
Sandri’s brother and his lawyer do not accept this explanation and are pushing for manslaughter charges – or worse – to be brought against the officer who fired the gun.
“It was murder, pure and simple,” stated lawyer Luigi Conti.
It is reported that the car Sandri was travelling in was already leaving the motorway service station when the shot was fired.
