Shoot-out at the Circus Maximus

A 10-day manhunt for the suspected killer of a policeman ended yesterday in bloodshed before horrified tourists in central Rome, where the fugitive grabbed a French woman at gunpoint before he was mortally wounded in a shoot-out with police.

A 10-day manhunt for the suspected killer of a policeman ended yesterday in bloodshed before horrified tourists in central Rome, where the fugitive grabbed a French woman at gunpoint before he was mortally wounded in a shoot-out with police.

Luciano Liboni, suspected of killing a policeman on 22 July, had been spotted on Saturday morning and was surrounded by police near the Circus Maximus, an ancient Roman field that is a major tourist attraction.

"What does it matter, I'm already dead, I'll kill her," Liboni yelled as police demanded he surrender. The woman was not harmed.

"Our man fired at Liboni and the lady instinctively dropped to the ground," said a police spokesman. After the shooting, a knapsack was found which police said was Liboni's. It contained €33,000 (£22,000), which police suspect came from robberies.

Liboni had been on the run for two years. Before the slaying of the policeman, he had been wanted for other shootings and a record of robberies.