This morning along the Ivrea-Santhià motorway link, in the Viverone Sud service area two traffic police officers were attacked by a man armed with a hammer, who hit them during a check. In self-defense, one of the policemen opened fire, wounding the attacker in the pelvis. The three - the two officers and the attacker - were rescued and taken to hospital.

The facts

The story began at 11:45 today, Thursday 6 February, when a 26-year-old French man crashed a stolen car into the concrete New Jersey barriers at the Albiano d'Ivrea junction. Instead of calling for help, he abandoned the vehicle and started hitchhiking.

A van picked him up and took him to the Viverone Sud service station. When he arrived there around 12:00, the boy began to show aggressive behavior towards the Autogrill staff. According to reconstructions, he even tried to steal another car with a family on board, threatening the driver with a knife.

A patrol of the Highway Police, present in the parking lot of the service area, intervened upon noticing the scene. In an attempt to block it, the man pulled a hammer from his jacket and hit one of the officers in the head. The other policeman, in an attempt to stop the attacker and defend his colleague, fired a gunshot that hit the 26-year-old to the pelvis.

The rescue

The motorway link was closed immediately from the Albiano junction towards Vercelli to allow rescue operations to be carried out. The 118 helicopter and two ambulances arrived on site.

• The first agent, hit on the head with the hammer, was hospitalized at the CTO in Turin for a head injury.
• The second agent, grazed in the shoulder by a bullet during the fight, was treated and admitted to the hospital in Ivrea.
• The aggressor, injured in the pelvis, was rushed to the Molinette hospital in Turin, where he underwent surgery. The prognosis is 30 days.

The investigations

The public prosecutor of the Ivrea prosecutor's office, Renato Cravero, is coordinating the investigations pto reconstruct the dynamics of the incident. The images from the security cameras in the service area will be decisive.

Investigators have already seized the stolen car, which the attacker had abandoned after the accident, and are carrying out ballistic tests on the bullets fired during the shooting.

In the meantime, The injured man is being held at the hospital awaiting arrest.

Law enforcement unions have expressed concern over the incident, highlighting the increase in incidents of violence against police forces. Siulp launched an appeal to the Government, asking for an acceleration in the approval of the Security bill, to ensure greater protection of the agents.

Messages of closeness and support from the Government 

"The attack on two police officers, injured by hammer blows in the Viverone service area, is yet another act of violence against the police force. To all the men and women in uniform, who guarantee the safety of citizens every day, I express all my solidarity and closeness.” Declares in a note the Minister for Public Administration, and secretary of Forza Italia in Piedmont, Senator Paolo Zangrillo.