In Milan Man on trial shoots dead judge, lawyer and co-defendant

 

Tragedy struck in a Milan court today as a man on trial shot dead a judge, a lawyer and a co-defendant in the Palace of Justice in central Milan.

Emergency services also said a fourth person was found dead in the court buildings with no apparent sign of injury.

In a tweet, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the man, named Claudio Giardiello, had been arrested in Vimercate, a town north of Italy's financial center and was being held at a military barracks nearby.

According to Reuters,  it was not immediately clear how the assailant was able to carry a gun past metal detectors and into the court buildings owing to the increased security measures across Italy following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.

According to Reuters,  it was not immediately clear how the assailant was able to carry a gun past metal detectors and into the court buildings owing to the increased security measures across Italy following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.

According to an eyewitness,  Massimilano Monti, who works for a legal office inside the court:

"I heard a series of shots, I threw myself in the first office I could find and I thought I was going to have a panic attack. I have been coming here for 20 years, it's the first time something like this has happened."

The incident happens less than a month before the Milan Expo opens on May 1, the first time the city has held the world trade fair for more than a hundred years.