Naples – Six bullets, a sinister warning, fired in the dead of night to rekindle the ghosts of a never-ending Camorra war.
The truce, if there ever was one, officially ended in the alleys of Montecalvario, where a commando of hitmen opened fire, marking the return of the Camorra clashes to the Spanish Quarters .
The alarm was raised at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday. A phone call sent officers from the Dante police station to Via Francesco Girardi, where they encountered a disturbing scene: the front door of number 17 was riddled with four bullets, while two more bullets struck a first-floor apartment, like a sinister calling card.
At the scene, forensic investigators found six shell casings of different calibers, indicating there were at least two gunmen. This detail reinforces the suspicion of a targeted and organized raid.
Shots fired from two pistols of different calibers
The investigation, entrusted to the police , is proceeding rapidly. Hopes of identifying those responsible rest with the surveillance cameras in the area, footage of which has already been acquired by investigators.
But the veil of silence surrounding the Spanish Quarter remains a stumbling block. Officers interviewed residents and the elderly couple who lived in the affected apartment, but their testimonies yielded no useful evidence.
The motive, however, leaves no room for doubt: it was a "stesa," a typical Camorra intimidation attack. Investigators are convinced that the attack was not carried out by the old, now depleted, "historic" clans (Esposito, Masiello, and Saltalamacchia), but by the "paranze" (criminal gangs) of very young criminals. These new recruits, ready to do anything to gain control of the still active drug dealing centers, are the true driving force behind these feuds.
This raid on Via Girardi is the second in a short time. Just at the end of August, another raid had sown panic in nearby Montesanto . In that case too, a 7,65 caliber shell casing was found on the ground, while a bullet had struck the ceiling of a fourth-floor apartment.
The target? A mystery. The apartment was occupied by a retired couple with no criminal record, and the entire building is free of criminals. Investigators are proceeding cautiously, ruling out the possibility of the intimidation being directed at a resident. But with Sunday night's shooting, the number of shootings to be investigated in Naples continues to rise, raising tensions and fears that a new Camorra war could erupt at any moment.
Unless, as has been happening for years in the working-class neighborhoods of Ponticelli and San Giovanni a Teduccio, as well as in the Traiano and Pianura districts, the hunt for housing has begun in the Spanish Quarters to make way for illegal B&Bs, and therefore the shots aimed at the homes of elderly people with no criminal record are a signal to intimidate them and force them to leave their homes.
Chronicles of Campania
Montesanto: The machine gun wielded by the "bogeyman" was found near the Cumana Pass.
Naples – A young man dressed entirely in black, his face covered by a hood, stalks around menacingly, brandishing a rifle…
