ROME - Two men were left injured in a drive-by shooting that occurred in broad daylight in Italy’s capital Monday afternoon.

 The two, who were sitting in a café in Rome’s Cinecittà suburb, were shot at five times and both hit in the leg by two men on a moped in the hit-and-run.

 The injured parties were both rushed to hospital as police were quick to the scene and cordoned off Petit Bar on via Flavio Stilicone, where the shooting occurred.

 It is thought that Mauro Gizzi and Maurizio Salvucci, the two injured men, were regulars at the café and it is consequently unclear if the gunmen had a specific target in mind or whether the incident was coincidental.  

 Police are currently investigating a link between the shooting and the attempted robbery of an ice cream shop less than 200 metres from the café less than half an hour before the shooting.

 Mauro Perifano, the shop’s owner, was opening his store at 15:30 in the afternoon when a man in a helmet and sunglasses came in demanding money.

 “The man had a gun in my face: give me everything, he says. I raise my hands: take everything you want. There was almost nothing in the till, he looks at it and goes off. Outside there was a man on a moped who was waiting for him and the two drove off,” Perifano told Il Messaggero.

 No arrests have been made yet, but investigations into Monday’s events are ongoing. Both Gizzi and Salvucci are expected to recover fully.

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