Giuseppe Leotta

Case record: Giuseppe Leotta

Background

Giuseppe Leotta was a 32-year-old casual labourer from Aci Castello in eastern Sicily. He had occasionally worked for the town, including as a custodian of the Norman castle that gave Aci Castello its name, and he had also looked after children at a primary school. He had been employed by the council on a short-term contract as part of a social programme to reduce unemployment, and his contract had not been renewed.

Local officials said Leotta had a history of mental problems and bore a grudge against the mayor because his application to become the mayor’s driver had been turned down. Neighbours described Leotta as “a strange loner”. Locals also said Aci Castello had never seen such violence before.

A former mayor, Paolo Castorina, said that for a period Leotta worked in the town kindergarten and that one day Leotta asked for help changing his job because he had problems with his colleagues. Castorina said Leotta “wasn't aggressive, but he certainly did not strike me as someone who was completely normal.”

The offence

Leotta opened fire with a handgun in the town hall in eastern Sicily in the town of Aci Castello, just outside Catania. Police said he killed five people and injured one before committing suicide.

Police said Leotta stormed into the office of the mayor, Michele Toscano, and shot him repeatedly in the chest and head with a pistol. He killed two female workers in another municipal office and also killed a man who happened to pass him on the stairs and a pensioner on a park bench. Police said the victims included the Aci Castello mayor, along with another town official and two women. Other reporting described the mayor, Michele Toscano, as meeting a delegation of social workers when Leotta asked to speak to him. When told Toscano was busy, Leotta went away but returned with a pistol, burst into the mayor’s office, and shot Toscano dead.

Investigation

Police said Leotta fled the scene of the attack in Aci Castello and a manhunt was launched through eastern Sicily, including with police helicopters and road blocks outside the town. Police advised other council employees to lock themselves in their homes while Leotta was on the loose. Police patrolled schools as students were finishing class for the day.

After killing five people, wounding another one and threatening two more, Leotta barricaded himself inside his home. Shotguns legally held for sporting purposes and a large quantity of ammunition were found at his home. Police initially stated that some churches in the town were closed while the attacker was still at large.

Giovanni Carioli, a senior town official, said: “It’s a crazy thing. I've never seen anything like it ... We are undoubtedly dealing with a psychopath.”

A local representative, Raffaele Lombardo, said: “I'm speechless. The election campaign has been stained with blood.”

Father Vittorio Rocca, the parish priest, was among the first people to arrive on the scene. He said: “What I saw was a real massacre, a terrible sight,” and described the mayor’s condition, saying: “The mayor was lying in his office in a pool of blood. The killer had shot him several times, aiming at the face and heart,” to the ADN-Kronos news agency.

Arrest / pursuit / containment

After the attack, Leotta prompted a manhunt and was later reported to have killed himself in a church near the town of Vittoria. Police said this was 60 miles southwest of Catania.

The parish priest, Don Vittorio Rocca, asked Leotta to surrender on Radio Vatican, saying: “Don't kill anybody else, not even yourself,”.

Trial

No trial information was provided.

Sentencing

No sentencing information was provided.

Appeals

No appeals information was provided.

Outcome

Leotta killed five people in the shooting rampage and injured one before committing suicide by shooting himself in a church the same day.

Police identified the gunman as Giuseppe Leotta. Police said Leotta had killed himself in a church near the town of Vittoria.

Aftermath

Thousands gathered in Aci Castello to pay their last respects to the mayor and four other people killed. Funeral services for the five were held in a town square because the local church was too small to hold the crowd.

Sicily was preparing for local elections, and Unemployment was described as a sensitive issue in southern Italy, where the jobless rate was cited as 19% compared with a national average of 9%, and some areas were said to approach 30%. Italians were due to vote next month in a referendum on a new law to increase the flexibility of the job market by reducing legal protections against arbitrary dismissal, introduced by the Berlusconi government against trade union opposition, intended to boost small businesses.

Timeline

• May 2, 2003 — Leotta opened fire with a handgun in the town hall in Aci Castello, killing five people and injuring one, before committing suicide the same day.
• May 3, 2003 — Police reported that Leotta had killed himself in a church near the town of Vittoria; the manhunt and police response continued.
• May 4, 2003 — Thousands gathered for funeral services in a town square because the local church was too small to hold the crowd.