Gunman shoots hostage, himself

Press, 8 February 1980, Page 5

Gunman shoots hostage, himself

NZPA-Reuter Milan The seige of an office in Milan ended abruptly in bloodshed yesterday when a young woman hostage was shot dead by a deranged gunman who then killed himself. . “It was an absurd and inexplicable epilogue,’’ said an exhausted magistrate Luigi Dell’osso, who for 30 hours had pleaded with the gunman to surrender peacefully. Antonio Brambilla, aged 34, took seven hostages _ at the modern office building on Tuesday night after killing the husband of a woman he said he loved. After hours of lucid but fanciful telephone conversations with negotiators and journalists, Brambilla agreed to give himself up and free

his last hostage, a secretary, Rita Furiato. Instead, he shot the young woman, who had offered to stay with him in return for the release of the six other captives, and then took his own life. Mrs Furiato’s family attacked the police for their handling of the affair. “You killed my brother and now you made my sister die,” one of Mrs Furiato’s sisters screamed at police. She was referring to their brother, Antonio, a known criminal killed in a gun battle with the police in 1977. But Mr Delrosso, who headed the operation, said he did not know why Brambilla, who had a record of robbery and sexual offences, had reneged on his promise to surrender. 1