A man armed with a knife stabbed five people on Thursday inside a shopping centre south of the Italian city of Milan, killing one person, Italian media reported. The wounded included Spanish soccer player, Pablo Mari, who is on loan to the Serie A club Monza from Arsenal, Lapresse reported.
Italy’s Carabinieri police said that Mari and five other people were stabbed on Thursday and a 46-year-old suspect has been detained in connection with the incident. However, the motive of the attack is yet to be determined.
A supermarket employee died en route to the hospital, according to the ANSA news agency. Italian authorities said there were no elements to suggest terrorism, LaPresse reported.
Reports say the attacker has had mental health problems and had grabbed the weapon from the supermarket shelves. The man started stabbing people at random at about 18:30 local time (16:30 GMT) at a Carrefour in a local shopping centre. Screams were reportedly heard inside the centre, as terrified visitors tried to flee in panic. The attacker is reported to have been detained by several customers and handed over to police who arrived at the scene.
Monza CEO Adriano Galliani told Sky Italy that Mari had been shopping with his wife and young son when the attack took place.
“He had his son in a trolley and his wife next to him. He didn’t notice anything. He then felt something painful in his back, which was the criminal’s knife,” Mr Galliani said.
“Unfortunately, he also saw the criminal stab someone in the throat. He saw everything that happened and it was deeply disturbing,” Galliani added.
While the executive said the defender had suffered a “fairly deep wound on his back”, he said his life was not in danger and that he “should recover quickly”.
Mari joined Arsenal from Brazilian side Flamengo in January 2020. He has only played 19 times for the Gunners and is currently on loan with top flight Italian club Monza.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: “I just found out. I know Edu [Arsenal technical director] has been in touch with his relatives. He’s in hospital but he seems to be okay.”
