Police Rule Out Racial Motive as Black Man Shot and Killed in Florence

A man who was shot on a bridge in central Florence near midday on March 5 was said by Italian press reports to have died from his wounds.ANSA said a 65-year-old man had been arrested, and was the suspect in the shooting.The victim was described as a 70-year-old black man.According to ANSA, who cited police, the alleged shooter, “left his house Monday morning intending to kill himself … but then decided to shoot anyone who came his way in order to be taken to prison and not weigh on his family any more.”The shooting came a month after a right-wing extremist, Luca Traini, shot six African migrants in Macerata. However, police said a racial motivation for the Florence shooting had been ruled out.Local restaurant owner Daniele Gaggini filmed emergency services arriving at the scene of the shooting, on Florence’s Vespucci Bridge. Credit: Daniele Gaggini via Storyful