Police in Rome have detained a 21-year-old man after a shooting that wounded two people during Liberation Day celebrations on April 25, according to Il Messaggero, in a case that has prompted anger, concern and political sensitivity well beyond the immediate victims.
The suspect, identified as Eitan Bondì, was accused of attempted murder and illegal possession and carrying of weapons. The newspaper reported that he was traced after investigators reviewed surveillance footage from the area and followed the scooter he used to escape. A license plate captured on camera helped police identify him.
The two victims were struck in the neck and hand in one case and the shoulder in the other, the report said. The attack occurred after a procession for Liberation Day in central Rome, a date that marks Italy’s liberation from fascism and Nazi occupation and often draws large public gatherings.
Il Messaggero said Bondì told investigators or others that he was part of the Jewish Brigade. That claim was quickly rejected by representatives of the group. Davide Riccardo Romano, director of the Museum of the Jewish Brigade, said in a note quoted by the paper that the organization did not know Bondì and did not have him among its members.
The denial matters because the reference to the Jewish Brigade touches on a historically loaded and politically sensitive identity in Italy. Any suggestion of affiliation can easily become the focus of wider debate, especially when a violent incident has already stirred public emotions.
Police and prosecutors appear to have moved quickly to build the case. The report says the Digos anti-terrorism investigators, working under the Rome prosecutor’s office, relied on frames from camera footage to follow the suspect’s route after the attack. The scooter, the route and the plate number were all key pieces of the investigative chain.
The newspaper also reports that the victims believed they had been targeted because they were wearing Anpi scarves, the emblem of Italy’s National Association of Italian Partisans. That detail has intensified concerns that the shooting may have had a political or ideological dimension, though the report does not say investigators have formally established a motive.
The response from the ANPI in Rome was immediate and forceful. Marina Pierlorenzi, president of the provincial branch, expressed concern about the attack’s possible origins and said the victims were still shaken though in stable condition. The association also planned a sit-in at the site of the shooting.
The case now sits at the intersection of criminal investigation and public tension around memory, identity and political symbolism in Italy. For investigators, the immediate challenge is to establish what prompted the shooting. For Rome, the broader question is how a celebration of liberation ended with gunfire and accusations that quickly spread far beyond the street where it happened.
