FOGGIANO – A man was shot dead in the parking lot of a factory just minutes away from crowded touristic beach spot on Saturday by two hitmen, police said.

 Maurizio Cologno, who was originally from San Severo, worked as a valet and a night watchman.

 The 52-year-old was known by police for various crimes, including drug offenses, crime against property, resistance to public officials, extortion, and the illegal carrying of weapons. 

 Cologno had been arrested in 2013 while under special surveillance for violence and in 2017 following a raid. 

 He was working as an illegal parking attendant near the beach in Marina di Lesina when he was killed by five gunshots. 

 The workers of the factory at the time of the shooting testified, “We heard the screams and then we saw a person slumped on the ground. It all happened in a few moments; we don't know anything else.”

 The Carabinieri of the Provincial Command are heading the investigation to probe into the killers’ motive using nearby CCTV footage and asking any witness to come forward and testify. 

 Michele Emiliano, governor of Puglia relayed the frustration of citizens in Foggia that these kinds of issues do not seem to be being taken seriously. 

 “It keeps happening again and we have to comment on a heinous murder perpetrated with mafia methods to intimidate and induce silence in our community, in order to be able to subdue it more easily using the force of intimidation that derives from the criminal association bond.”

 The murder comes two weeks after a father and son were shot in the Cerignola countryside for not paying back a loan. 

 “We can’t take it anymore. Foggia and its province can’t sit back and watch this happen," said Emiliano.

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