While the ministers in Italy's new coalition cabinet where sworn in, an unemployed bricklayer took shots at the building the ceremony was taking place in from the square outside. His target was politicians but his victims ended up being two Carabinieri, one of which is seriously injured. A female bystander was grazed by a bullet as well. The suspected gunman, dressed in a business suit, was quickly apprehended outside of Palazzo Chigi. He was identified as Luigi Preiti, a 49-year-old from Calabria. The moments immediately following the shooting were caught on video by several bystanders. New Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said it appeared the shooting was an "isolated act". He added that there were no concerns for "the general situation of public order in the country". This shooting comes at a delicate time for Italian politics and Italian society in general. The image of a desperate unemployed man attempting to take shots at politicians will surely ignite endless discussions about the dramatic moments the country is going through. The need for the new government to quickly provide tangible replies to the challenges ahead becomes all the more evident.
