Police kill Italian soccer fan
ESPN news reported that police shot and killed a man from Rome at a highway rest area near Tuscany Sunday, while trying to break up a quarrel, authorities said.
Gabriele Sandri, 26, a soccer fan was enroute to a soccer game in Milaan to watch the Lazio, Rome's soccer team, when he was shot when police tried to break up an altercation between Sandri and a fan of an opposing team.
Sandri was around 125 miles north of Rome near Arrezo, police spokesman Saverio Cialdea said.
It is possible that Sandri was killed with a warning shot, police suggested. The incident is currently under investigation.
"It was a tragic error," said Arezzo police chief Vincenzo Giacobbe to the BBC.
It is not uncommon for fans to fight at rest stops in Italy.
The game between the Lazio and rival Inter Milan was postponed by the Italian soccer federation following the shooting. Other games that were scheduled to take place Sunday were delayed 10 minutes and players along with referees wore black armbands, ESPN reported.
The shooting sparked riots in Bergamo. Fans tried to break through a barrier and run onto the field during a game between AC Milan and Atalanta.
"In April the Italian government introduced a law aimed at stamping out football hooliganism," the BBC reported.
The legislative action came in February after a police officer was killed in a riot in Sicily at a soccer game.
Other precautions to ensure fan and police safety have included a new anti-violence measures, which include the banning of some fans from traveling to away games, ESPN reported.