1982
August 26, Salerno
Antonio Bandiera, 24 years old, Police Officer
Mario De Marco, 30 years old, Police Officer
Antonio Palumbo, 21 years old, Army Corporal
The “Strage di Salerno” (Salerno Massacre) refers to the firefight on August 26, 1982, between terrorists from the Red Brigades, some Italian Army soldiers, and a patrol of the State Police in Torrione, Salerno. The incident resulted in three deaths: one soldier and two police officers.
The operation was planned by a unit of the so-called Partito della Guerriglia (PPG), which formed from the merger of the Naples column of the Red Brigades, led by Giovanni Senzani, and the “prison front” composed of dissident brigadists who split from the BR in 1981. The intent was to seize weapons from the military.
In the early afternoon of August 26, near Lungomare Marconi in Salerno, the terrorists (10 in total, including 4 women, among them Maria Russo and Natalia Ligas) attacked an Army convoy consisting of a van and a car. The convoy was transferring from the “Generale Antonino Cascino” barracks to the nearby “Angelucci” barracks, where it was to perform its usual guard duty. During the attack, twenty-one-year-old Corporal Antonio Palumbo was immediately hit and would die in a hospital in Naples on September 23.

Upon hearing the gunfire, a patrol from the rapid response unit of the Salerno police force, which happened to be in a bar near the scene of the attack, responded. The police officers engaged in a violent firefight with the terrorists, during which Police Officer Antonio Bandiera, 24 years old, lost his life. Police Officer Mario De Marco, 30 years old, would succumb to his severe injuries four days later (Maria Russo was the material executor of his murder). During the operation, two soldiers, one policeman, two civilians, and one terrorist were injured. The brigadists managed to seize 4 “FAL” Beretta BM 59 rifles and 2 Garand rifles from the Army soldiers.
This incident underscored the ongoing violence and conflict between the Red Brigades and the Italian security forces during this turbulent period in Italian history.