A man on trial for fraudulent bankruptcy opened fire in Milan's courthouse Thursday, killing his lawyer, a co-defendant and a judge before being captured.
Italian news agency ANSA said the shooting took place in the Italian city's Palazzo di Giustizia or Palace of Justice, adding that the man who opened fire is thought to be a defendant in an bankruptcy case.
Minister for the Interior Angelino Alfano tweeted that the shooter was located outside of Milan in Vimercate, which is 25km away, and was in police custody. He had tried to leave the scene on a motorcycle.
Catturato a Vimercate il presunto assassino di Milano. Ora si trova in caserma dei Carabinieri.— Angelino Alfano (@angealfa) April 9, 2015
Multiple local media reports identified the shooter as Claudio Giardiello.
It was unclear how he managed to get a weapon into the courthouse as visitors must pass through metal detectors to get into the building.
The courthouse has metal detectors at the four main entrances, but lawyers and courthouse employees with official IDs are regularly waved through without the additional security screen and accredited employees can drive into the internal garage.
Attornies Mirko and Davide Pupo noted that the metal detector from the lawyers' entrance had been removed several months ago.
Employees who emerged after the shooting suggested that the gunman could easily have gained entrance without passing through the metal detector by entering with his lawyer, though other attorneys said their clients routinely are told to go in via the public entrance.
Fuori dal #tribunale dicono 2 morti e 1 ferito , uno dei deceduti (dicono) dovrebbe essere un magistrato #Milano live pic.twitter.com/rrb1jCW2D2— il TAXI di MILANO % (@SergioSierra67) April 9, 2015
Police evacuated the building and people poured onto the streets outside.
Sparatoria all'interno del tribunale di Milano pic.twitter.com/7CXdR2DzGb— mirko pioltini (@mirkopioltini74) April 9, 2015
Italy's national public broadcaster RAI said the shooting took place in a court on the third floor of the building.
It said the the Interior Minister had suspended a security meeting to deal with the shooting, while the city's mayor, Giuliano Pisapia, was on his way to the scene.
Corriere TV has a livestream from outside the court:
The Associated Press contributed to this report