ROME – On Monday 19-year-old, Salvatore Calvaruso was stopped by Police and stands accused on charges of massacre and illegal carrying and possession of a firearm following a fatal shooting in Monreale, Palermo Saturday night that led to the deaths of three young men, Andrea Miceli, Massimo Pirozzo and Salvatore Turdo, after a fight broke out between rival gangs in Piazza di Duomo, police said.

 A 16-year-old and a 33-year-old who, according to current investigations, were not involved in the fight part and just so happened to be at the scene of the shooting, were also injured. According to the police report, Calvaruso, who has a minor criminal record, was brought to the Pagliarelli prison in Palermo Monday and confessed at first of his own accord then used his right not to answer. Despite allegedly admitting to the crimes, in front of the prosecutor, he refused to answer and thus, his alleged confessions cannot be used by the state. 

 The young man said that during the dispute "which gave rise to the shooting" he "had lost his glasses, in the area where the [shooting] occurred". The carabinieri allegedly then found the glasses in question, which "perfectly corresponded to those worn and used by Calvaruso, as shown by a photograph extrapolated from social media.” Thus, for the prosecutor this provided "an individualizing objective element that would allow one to reasonably establish the presence of the suspect [Calvaruso] on site".

 According to what has been reported in Italian Media, the suspect presented himself to the police barracks on Sunday morning alleging that his scooter had been stolen. For the magistrates of the Palermo prosecutor who were investigating the triple murder, this was “a move to divert the investigation.” The young man was then identified thanks to the testimonies of witnesses and cameras. On Sunday night prosecutor, Felice De Benedittis signed an arrest warrant and by the following day Calvaruso was scheduled for an examination with the presiding judge for the preliminary investigations of Palermo for the validation of the arrest warrant.

 The 19-year-old was shown the videos and statements of a series of witnesses. In addition, the friend who had lent him the scooter, which Calvaruso then said had been stolen, admitted that the young man had designed the plan and that during a phone call he had confided to him that he "commited slaughter by shooting and killing two people." 

 The investigation is still on-going, however and the magistrates, led by the prosecutor Maurizio De Lucia, were still on the hunt for accomplices. The hypothesis was that at least three or four boys had participated in the shooting. As stated in the detention order, at least twenty pistol shots were fired in front of the 365 bar of Monreale, a stone's throw from the Cathedral.

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