A 31-year-old Italian national of Moroccan origin has turned a Saturday afternoon in Modena into a scene that nobody signed up for, driving his car into pedestrians and injuring eight people, four of them seriously. One woman required the amputation of both legs - a detail that makes the whole thing even harder to spin as a simple fender bender.
After the car finally stopped against a shop window - because apparently even hit-and-runs need a designated parking spot - the driver emerged brandishing a knife. He then picked a fight with a passer-by who gave chase, which went about as well as you'd expect: the suspect was overpowered. Luca Signorelli, the civilian who took on the role of impromptu action hero, received a blow to the head and chest before the suspect was restrained with help from other bystanders. Note to aspiring criminals: if your car fails to escape, a knife probably won't improve the situation.
The suspect, identified by officials as Salim El Koudri, was born in Bergamo and lives in Modena province. He's an economics graduate with no criminal record - which just goes to show that degrees don't always buy good decision-making. The prefect of Modena, Fabrizia Triolo, revealed that El Koudri had been referred to a mental health centre in 2022 for "schizoid disorders," but then "disappeared without a trace." Because nothing says "robust mental health follow-up" like losing track of someone entirely.
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who cancelled a planned trip to Cyprus for this, called the incident "extremely serious." She and President Sergio Mattarella plan to visit the injured on Sunday. Meanwhile, Italy's far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini wasted no time naming the suspect on X and describing him as a "second-generation criminal" - because when tragedy strikes, why not score some political points?
The incident occurred at 16:30 near Modena's iconic cathedral, with witnesses describing the car accelerating to at least 100 km/h (62 mph) before hitting the pavement. "We saw people flying," one witness told Italian media, which is a sentence no one should ever have to say about their Saturday afternoon.