1982
March 5, Rome
Alessandro Caravillani, 17 years old, student
Alessandro Caravillani was a seventeen-year-old student at the IV Artistic High School in Piazza Risorgimento, Rome. On the morning of March 5, 1982, as he usually did, he was on his way to school when, having left Via Giacinto Carini and reached the vicinity of Piazza Irnerio, he was killed in a shootout between a group of terrorists and law enforcement.
A few minutes earlier, a commando of eight NAR terrorists, consisting of Francesca Mambro, Giorgio Vale, Walter Sordi, Stefano Procopio, Roberto Nistri, Ciro and Livio Lai, and Fabrizio Zani, had just carried out a robbery at the National Bank of Labor branch in the same square. When the robbers emerged to make their escape, they were met by law enforcement, who had been alerted by a passerby. The officers engaged in a violent firefight with the terrorists, who began shooting wildly among the crowd in the nearby market.
Several passersby were slightly injured, while Caravillani died instantly. He was initially struck in the knee by a ricocheting bullet fired from a rifle used by Livio Lai and then hit in the head by a bullet, possibly fired by Mambro, a prominent member of the organization who had been on the run for some time. Mambro was shot in the groin and, seriously wounded, was arrested shortly after.
During the Nar 2 trial against the members of the terrorist organization, Lai took responsibility for Caravillani’s murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Francesca Mambro, who took responsibility for all other crimes committed, denied being directly or indirectly involved in Caravillani’s murder. Despite multiple expert reports stating that the bullet that killed Caravillani had ricocheted after being fired from the assault rifle used by Lai, Mambro was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.