Torre del Greco– A double life, suspended between the image of a quiet elderly man and that of the neighborhood "gunslinger." This is the life of Gennaro Esposito, 77, with no criminal record, arrested last night after shooting at unarmed cars, thrown from the roof of his home.
A quiet evening in a residential neighborhood was shattered by several calls to 112: a man, leaning out of a rooftop terrace, holding a pellet gun and taking aim at parked cars. An easy target, an incomprehensible gesture.
Carabinieri from the Operations Section and the local station immediately arrived on the scene. Knocking on the 77-year-old's door, the officers found themselves confronted not only with the alleged shooter, but with a movie-like scenario: the apartment was a veritable clandestine laboratory for modifying and producing weapons.
The military's expert eye immediately fell on a 4.5-caliber Anschutz rifle, rendered "illegal" by the scratched-off serial number. Next to it was a homemade arsenal: a .22-caliber pistol, three homemade air rifles, as well as primers, bags of shot, and disassembled components, ready to assemble new weapons.
The elderly man, who until last night had never been in trouble with the law, was arrested for possession of an unlicensed weapon and receiving stolen goods. The judge confirmed the arrest and ordered house arrest, where the unusual gunsmith will now await his trial, while the neighborhood questions the double-faced nature of their older and more dangerous neighbor.
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