In Italy, an immigrant stabs bus driver

The aggressor was stopped by the “Carabinieri” police, who, in order to block him, fired a gun shot at one leg. The bus driver is in critical condition: he's in private prognosis.

A 19-year-old Ivorian attacked a bus driver with three stab wounds in the chest, in a line coach after a crash on board the public vehicle in Monteriggioni, Siena, Italy. The aggressor was stopped by the “Carabinieri” , who, in order to block him, fired a gun shot at one leg. Called by some passers-by, the soldiers were in turn attacked by the migrant, who first throw them a glass demijohn and then attack them with the blade. The bus driver is in critical condition: he’s in private prognosis.

The aggression and intervention of the Carabinieri

According to the first reconstruction, after a few blows in the air, the “Carabinieri” neutralized the Ivorian by shooting him in a leg. The bus driver is hospitalized at the “Le Scotte” hospital in Siena: for serious injuries suffered by the aggressor, he would have lost a lot of blood. The young African is under arrest and observance in the ward. No “Carabiniere” law enforcer was injured. The fact happened at lunchtime in Santa Colomba, near Monteriggioni, a lovely tourist attraction.

The aggressor was drunk

The “Carabinieri” also questioned the bus passengers and some passers-by. It turned out after he finish stabbing the driver, he then start hitting him with blows. It was the intervention of some witnesses that saved the driver’s life:

Some passers-by, waiting for the bus at the last stop to return to the city, intervened and, by becoming a "shield", they interrupted the violent aggression. The Ivorian was then in a state of drunkenness. The bus was ending its course at the Santa Colomba terminal in Monteriggioni (Siena). He went out the bus, perhaps for a discussion with the driver because he had not paid the ticket (by the way, the “Carabinieri” found in his pocket a bill for not having paid from another bus ticket).

The Ivorian  ran to take a knife from a neighboring home, where he was hosted as an asylum seeker. Then, returning to the stop, he throw himself at the driver, stabbing him. After the first three strikes - always according to the reconstruction of the military - the driver, fifty years old, was being kicked out of the driving seat, finishing to the ground. Thus, some passers-by  decided to intervene, removing the driver from the aggression, while somebody gave the alarm to the “carabinieri”. Upon arrival of a patrol, the African boy didn't stop.

Shots of guns in the air were fired, then one, to block him was fired to his leg. But the Ivorian attempted to escape into a forest, where he was captured by the military. The knife was then retrieved by the military near the aggressor.

He was awaiting expulsion

The African boy doesn't appear to be a radicalized Islamic, but a problematic migrant with alcohol-related difficulties and already known to host reception agencies and law enforcement forces for his excesses. Precisely because of these previous situations, the authorities have revoked him the asylum seeker status and he was awaiting expulsion from Italy. 

In the past few months, “Caritas” social service organization dismissed him from the home where he was hosted, because of many reports from other migrants, alarmed by his aggressive attitudes. In the same home, close to the bus stop, the Ivorian took his knife for the aggression. The young African is now without fixed dwelling. Just in 18th July, at the train station in Poggibonsi (Siena), the 19-year-old was arrested by the police for having punched a train controller who asked him for the ticket and caused him a concussion.