The Lazio squad and figures from football and politics have paid their respects to slain fan Gabriele Sandri, while there are new developments on the shooting.
Biancocelesti supporter Sandri was shot while in the back of a car leaving the scene of a minor scuffle with Juventus fans on Sunday morning.
The police officer who fired the two shots said he had intended the first as a warning into the air and the second went off accidentally when he was running towards the scene in a motorway service station near Arezzo.
The exact dynamics of what happened are unclear, as Sandri’s lawyer has announced the version of events given by a witness – that the officer had his arms together outstretched and was aiming rather than firing into the air – are backed up by forensics reports.
“The autopsy proves the shot was fired at the same height as the back of the car and the holes match up, so it was in a straight line,” commented Michele Bonaco.
“It seems as if Gabriele immediately lost consciousness and he died a few minutes later due to the haemorrhaging of his jugular.”
The entity of the scuffle that alerted the passing traffic police car is also still unclear. According to reports, Sandri’s four friends in the car with him are under investigation for attempted assault.
However, they claim there was no brawl in the car park of the motorway service station. Their car crossed paths with the vehicle carrying Juventus supporters, they exchanged a few verbal insults and then left, the incident lasting in their view no more than 10 seconds.
The friends stated that they heard a noise as they drove away, but assumed it had been a rock thrown by another fan, not realising it was a gunshot until they saw Sandri’s blood.
The traffic police officer who fired the bullet that killed Sandri has not been suspended from duty, but was placed on “internal” desk work.
The funeral is on Wednesday morning in Rome and this evening people from all over Italy are flocking to pay their respects.
FIGC President Giancarlo Abete and Vice-President Demetrio Albertini brought a special Azzurri shirt signed by all the Italy players with ‘To Gabriele’ on the back, while Inter patron Massimo Moratti and several members of the Lazio staff attended.
The entire Lazio squad – including Lorenzo De Silvestri, a close friend of Sandri who has been released from Under-21 duty on compassionate leave – will be at the funeral.
“It was very important to be here and give our salute to Gabriele, a wonderful guy,” said defender Sebastiano Siviglia.
“It is a tragedy that leaves us astonished, as nobody could ever have imagined it. We are all very upset. Up until now I have heard a lot of talk and it’s too easy to blame football for what happened. Football had nothing to do with this affair. The problem is in society nowadays where violence is everywhere.”
The Government is reacting to the rioting that followed Sandri’s death by preparing even stricter laws to limit the movements of football fans, including banning away supporters for the foreseeable future.
“Italy should stop for an hour and reflect on the direction we are all going in. I don’t believe any of the games should have gone ahead on Sunday.”
Lazio captain Luciano Zauri also suggested the Ultras wanted the games to stop because Serie A and B were halted for two weeks when Chief Inspector Filippo Raciti was killed in rioting outside the Stadio Massimino in February.
“The whole situation isn’t clear yet, but we asked for clarity in the Raciti case and we demand the same here.”
Others who came to pay their respects to 28-year-old Sandri included politicians Giorgia Meloni, Valter Veltroni, Minister for Sport Giovanna Melandri, Gianfranco Fini and Paolo Cento.
President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano made a personal phone call to Sandri’s brother Cristiano to express “the feelings of great compassion shared by all Italians for the painful loss to your family of Gabriele.
"It occurred in tragic and absurd circumstances upon which it is right to shed full light, independent from the terrible violence that followed in Rome. These were events to be considered totally extraneous from young Sandri’s life.”
