Gabriele Vaccaro was attacked in the early hours of Sunday morning and died in hospital. The suspect, a 17-year-old Egyptian national, has been arrested and is expected to be charged with murder. The case is shocking Italy.
The death of Gabriele Vaccaro, a 25-year-old footballer, is shocking Italy. It all happened in the early hours of last Sunday morning when Vaccaro was attacked with a screwdriver in a parking lot in Pavia, Lombardy, and died at the San Matteo Polyclinic hospital.
Police quickly investigated the case and have already arrested a 17-year-old Egyptian suspect, using CCTV footage to find him.
Other people were present during the attack, but only one young man will be charged with murder, according to Italian media reports.
What happened? After leaving a nightclub, and on their way home from a friend’s house after buying a pizza, Gabriele Vaccaro’s group got into a heated argument with another group.
The words escalated into violence, and Vaccaro suffered injuries to his neck and abdomen.
Initially, Gabriele Vaccaro’s friends didn’t realize the severity of the injuries and took him home, where they later called an ambulance.
However, the ambulance arrived too late, and Gabriele died just as he was about to undergo surgery.
The suspect has already been arrested, as have three other individuals who, although they did not assault Gabriele with the weapon used, will face charges of failure to render aid.
A friend of Vaccaro was also injured and is hospitalized.
Who was Gabriele Vaccaro?
Trained in hotel management, the young man from Favara was described as a “good guy,” and known for his great “passion for football,” as reported by Il Giorno.
At one point, Gabriele Vaccaro managed to make a living from football and played for clubs in the lower divisions, wearing the jerseys of Atlético Favara, Casteltermini, and Kamarat.
Gabriele had moved to Pavia about six months ago to work at the postal logistics center, also having summer jobs.
Antonio Palumbo, the mayor of Favara, declared a day of municipal mourning for the death of the 25-year-old and lamented the event.
“There are moments when institutional roles must give way to raw humanity, and this is, unfortunately, one of those.”
