1982
May 6, Rome
Giuseppe Rapesta, 53 years old, Railway Police Officer
Giuseppe Rapesta was a Railway Police officer. Around 9:00 PM on May 6, 1982, he was alone in the Railway Police office at San Pietro Station when a group of terrorists burst in. As he reacted, they shot him in the back of the head and then fled after stealing his service weapon. Giuseppe Rapesta died on May 12. As court proceedings would later confirm, the ambush was carried out by a commando from the far-right extremist group “Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari” (NAR) as retaliation for the death of a member of their organization. This member had committed suicide the previous day during a raid by officers on the hideout where he had taken refuge. The terrorists, however, believed that he had been killed by the intervening officers.