Mayor calls for urgent action to tackle organised crime.

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri has voiced his concern over the recent spate of murders in the Italian capital after a man was shot dead at a petrol station on Monday night, the third killing in the city in the past six days.

The 51-year-old Italian man was gunned down as he refuelled his car in the Torpignattara area of Rome, just before 20.00 on Monday evening, his killers fleeing the scene on a motorcycle.

Last Wednesday a 33-year-old Romanian man was shot dead on a street in the east Rome suburb of Casal de' Pazzi. His killers, who also fled on a motorbike, are still at large.

On Friday a 41-year-old Italian chef was shot dead outside his restaurant in the Esquilino district. His killer subsequently handed himself into police.

Grande preoccupazione per l’escalation criminale con il terzo omicidio a Roma in pochi giorni. Si nomini subito il nuovo Prefetto e si convochi urgentemente il comitato ordine e sicurezza per rafforzare il contrasto alla criminalità organizzata e allo spaccio di stupefacenti.

— Roberto Gualtieri (@gualtierieurope) March 13, 2023

Writing on Twitter on Monday night, Gualtieri raised his "great concern for the criminal escalation with the third murder in Rome in a few days".

The mayor called for the immediate nomination of a new prefect and for the order and security committee to convene urgently "to strengthen the fight against organised crime and drug dealing."

Photo Il Messaggero