Eight dead in Italy shooting rampage

A security guard in north-western Italy shot dead his ex-wife and six other people today and then killed himself.

The victims, all adults, were found in two adjacent apartments in Chieri, near Turin, said Col. Filippo Ricciarelli of the carabinieri military-police.

The ANSA and AGI news agencies said the man opened fire on family members and neighbors with a light machine gun and then turned it on himself.

ANSA identified the shooter as Mauro Antonello, a night watchman, and said among the victims was his ex-wife, from whom he had separated about two years ago.

Citing a preliminary reconstruction by police, ANSA said the shooter used four weapons: two semi-automatic pistols, a light machine gun, and a revolver that he used to kill himself. It said as many as 40 bullets were spent.

The report said the couple's seven-year-old daughter was safe in school at the time of the shooting, which occurred around 9a.m.