🔗 Share this article

Three members of law enforcement were killed and more than a dozen people sustained injuries in what appears to be premeditated detonation from gas at a rural property in Italy's north.

Sequence of Events

The detonation took place as police and firefighters went into the property near the city of Verona to carry out an eviction order for three siblings aged in their 50s and 60s.

The three victims who died belonged to the Italian military police.

Legal Proceedings

One male and one female were taken into custody at the site and one more individual who escaped after the explosion was apprehended shortly later. The trio have been transported to hospital.

The explosion could be heard as far as 3 miles distant and images from the area revealed the structure reduced to a pile of rubble.

“We are in a period of mourning,” stated the Minister of the Interior the Interior Minister, who added that efforts had been made to evict the three family members in the earlier times.

Background and Motive

The head of the Veneto area, President Zaia, said the property was under an court order due to debts accrued by the property owners.

Conflict resolution experts had been sent to speak to the brothers and sister who had locked themselves into the house. When the police came just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials suspect one of the residents set off the blast.

“When we entered the property, we faced an utterly insane act,” regional commander Claudio Papagno informed news outlets.

“A gas cylinder had been ignited, and the detonation precisely impacted our personnel,” he added.

Petrol bombs were also discovered at the site, the minister confirmed.

Injuries and Destruction

The wounded by the incident consisted of eleven more officers of the military police as well as three officers of Italy's state police and a emergency responder.

As stated by the local prosecutor, the farmhouse was in a derelict state and had lacked electrical service.

The official believed the blast had happened on a level above the doorway and told the press it was a “intentional and planned killing”. Shortly before the incident, he revealed members had “detected a whistling noise, presumably the gas canisters being activated”.

Local Response

“All of us understood the scenario was critical,” neighbors informed reporters, mentioning that the three had in the past stated to “detonate the property” rather than be evicted.

“The incident exacted a ‘dreadful, extremely sad and dramatic price’.”

Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto joined other government officials in honoring the three officers who had died in the line of duty.