Italian officers praised for brave actions after stopping Tunisian killer
TWO Italian police officers have been hailed for their bravery after shooting the Berlin truck attacker dead.
Tunisian man Anis Amri was killed yesterday in a shoot-out with police during a routine patrol outside a train station in Milan.
He was stopped by two officers in the Sesto San Giovanni area. He pulled a gun from his backpack after being asked to show his identification and was killed in an ensuing shoot-out.
One of the officers, Christian Movio, 35, was shot in the right shoulder.
He underwent surgery for a superficial wound and is said to be in good condition. Mr Movio’s 29-year-old partner, Luca Scata, fatally shot Amri in the chest.
According to the Corriere della Sera website, Mr Scata’s mother, who was not named in the report, said: “Being in the police has always been his dream. Luca is strong and determined and we are proud of him.”
His father Giuseppe said: “He is a courageous lad, he did his duty.”
Twelve people were killed and 48 others were injured after a truck was driven into a Christmas market in the German capital on Monday evening.
Amri was identified with the help of fingerprints supplied by Germany.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ordered a comprehensive investigation into all angles of the case as she expressed her deep thanks to Italian authorities, and in particular to the two police officers.
Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni praised the two young police officers for their courage in taking down Amri during a routine check of ID papers while he was alone outside the deserted station.
He also called for greater cross-border police cooperation, suggesting some dismay that Europe’s open border policy had enabled Amri to easily move around, despite being Europe’s number one fugitive.
Italian interior minister Marco Minniti said: “The person killed, without a shadow of a doubt, is Anis Amri, the suspect of the Berlin terrorist attack.”
Milan, Rome and other cities have been on heightened alert since the attack, with increased surveillance and police patrols.
Amri’s death does not reduce the terrorist threat to Germany, the country’s top security official said.
The threat “remains high” and security won’t be scaled down, German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said.
Italian police said the suspect had travelled from Germany through France and into Italy after the attack, with some of the journey taken by train.
French officials refused to comment on his passage through France, which has increased surveillance on its trains after recent attacks and the Berlin massacre. Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack.
Mrs Merkel said: “We can be relieved at the end of this week that one acute danger has been ended.
“But the danger of terrorism as a whole remains, as it has for many years.”
A Milan anti-terrorism official said investigators also are working to determine what contacts, if any, Amri had in Milan. There is no evidence he ever passed through Milan during his previous stay in Italy, where he spent time after leaving Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
Amri served three and a half years in an Italian jail after being convicted of vandalism, threats and theft in 2011, but authorities apparently detected no signs that he was becoming radicalised.
He was repeatedly transferred among Sicilian prisons for bad conduct, with prison records saying he bullied inmates and tried to spark insurrections.
His mother said he went from there to Switzerland and then to Germany last year.
Authorities in Germany deemed him a potential threat long before the Berlin market attack, and even kept him under covert surveillance for six months this year.
He used at least six different names and three nationalities on his travels.
‘‘ We can be relieved at the end of this week that one acute danger has been ended. But the danger of terrorism as a whole remains