Raid in Sant'Anastasia, child injured in the head: Supreme Court confirms mafia aggravation

The Supreme Court of Cassation has ruled out the tragic shooting that shocked Sant'Anastasia, in the Vesuvius area, on the evening of May 23, 2023, almost resulting in a massacre.

The judges rejected the appeal filed by the defense of one of the two perpetrators, definitively upholding the aggravating circumstance of mafia methods for a violent and indiscriminate action. Emanuele Civita and his accomplice, who was a minor at the time, have already been convicted for that raid.

The fight and the armed "revenge" among the crowd

The blind fury that evening, according to the reconstructions confirmed in court, was triggered by trivial motives related to street crime. It all stemmed from an attempt to assert his supremacy over a small group of peers who, moments earlier, had not been intimidated by the sight of a gun.

An unacceptable "affront" for the two attackers, who decided to return to the town's main square on a scooter. Armed with a powerful submachine gun, capable of firing dozens of rounds in a matter of seconds, they opened fire mercilessly on the crowd.

Family drama: father shields son

Those who paid the price for that criminal display of force were innocent people, whose only crime was being in the square to eat ice cream with their families. The bullets spared no one.

A 10-year-old girl was shot in the head, while her mother suffered serious abdominal injuries, struggling for her life for a long time. The already tragic toll was prevented from turning into carnage only by pure chance and the father's heroic instinct: the man, wounded in the wrist, managed to shield his ten-year-old son with his own body, effectively saving his life. The other patrons escaped only by throwing themselves to the ground in terror.

The unobtainable weapons and the indelible traumas

As sadly known in other recent Neapolitan crime stories that ended in bloodshed—such as the murders of musician Giovanbattista Cutolo (“Giò Giò”) and young pizza chef Francesco Pio Maimone in Mergellina—in this case too, the weapons used in the raid were never recovered by the perpetrators.

While justice is taking its course in the courtrooms, the ordeal for the victims is far from over. The family, legally represented by attorney Paolo Cerruti, still bears the scars of that night.

Nearly three years after the shooting, parents and children continue to be constantly monitored by doctors and psychologists, in a difficult attempt to overcome a trauma that has marked their lives forever.