The Castel Volturno massacre (Italian: ''Strage di Castel Volturno'' or ''Strage di San Gennaro'') is the name given by the Italian press to a mass shooting perpetrated by the

Casalesi clan The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from Casal di Principe and San Cipriano d'Aversa in the province of Caserta between Naples and Latium. Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederatio ...

in which seven people were killed on 18 September 2008. The massacre outside the Ob Ob Exotic Fashion tailor shop on the Via Domitiana was widely characterized as part of a growing conflict between the native

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

and the immigrant African drug gangs.

Murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

were Antonio Celiento, the owner of an arcade next to Baia Verde, and six African immigrants:Casalesi, è mattanza: 7 morti. I nomi delle vittime. Minniti e Picierno: servono azioni urgenti contro i clan
- casertace, September 18, 2008 Samuel Kwaku, 26 (

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

); Alaj Ababa (Togo); Francis Antwi, 31 (

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

); Eric Affum Yeboah, 25 (Ghana); Alex Geemes, 28 (

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

) and Cristopher Adams, 28 (Liberia). Joseph Ayimbora (Ghana), 34, survived by feigning death; he later helped identify the killers. None of the African victims were involved in criminal activities and were chosen at random. The murders sparked violent protests from Castel Volturno's immigrant community the following day,Strage di camorra, immigrati in rivolta
- La Stampa, September 19, 2008 which culminated in the signing of measures launched by the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense on combating organized crime and illegal immigration to

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...

.Camorra, arrivano 500 soldati. Stretta sull'immigrazione
- La Repubblica, February 28, 2009 The Africans' killers were identified as Alfonso Cesarano, Alessandro Cirillo and Oreste Spagnuolo. A further three people, Francesco Cirillo, Emilio Di Caterino and Giovanni Letizia, have been suspected of involvement in the murders, which were ordered by

Giuseppe Setola Giuseppe Setola (; born November 5, 1970) is an Italian Camorrista and former boss of the Casalesi clan from Caserta. Since 2008, he was included on the list most wanted fugitives in Italy, until his arrest on January 14, 2009, in Mignano Monte ...

, affiliated with the Casalesi clan.

Arrests

On 22 September 2008, the first arrest was made in connection with the

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

. Alfonso Cesarano, a Casalesi triggerman, was found in his parents' home in Baia Verde, where he was under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

on drug charges next to the arcade where the first victim, Celiento, had been killed.Strage di Castel Volturno: Arrestato un sospetto
- La Repubblica, September 22, 2008 The

Italian government The government of Italy is in the form of a democratic republic, and was established by a constitution in 1948. It consists of legislative, executive, and judicial subdivisions, as well as a Head of State, or President. The Italian Constitutio ...

deployed 400

troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...

into the area. A huge anti-Camorra operation conducted in that same month by the Carabinieri dealt a devastating blow on the Casalesi clan, resulting in the arrests of 107 people including prominent members of the association, some of whom were on the list of 30 most wanted fugitives in Italy. Among those arrested were Alessandro Cirillo and Oreste Spagnuolo, the main co-ordinators of the attack. On January 14, 2009, Setola was finally arrested in

Mignano Monte Lungo Mignano Monte Lungo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about northwest of Naples and about northwest of Caserta. Mignano Monte Lungo borders the following municipalities: Conca dell ...

after a week on the run. During this period, he was included in the list of 30 most dangerous fugitives in Italy and was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

in absentia after being convicted on charges of ordering several killings and massacres, including that at Castel Volturno.Camorra, arrestato il boss Setola. Ai carabinieri: "Avete vinto voi"
Corriere della sera, January 14, 2009Mafia boss Giuseppe Setola who escaped through sewer is caught
Times Online, January 14, 2009

Convictions

In 2011, the court in Santa Maria Capua Vetere (Caserta) sentenced Giuseppe Setola, Davide Granato, Alessandro Cirillo, Giovanni Letizia to life imprisonment and Antonio Alluce to 23 years. The Court recognized the existence of aggravating circumstances such as

racial hatred Ethnic hatred, inter-ethnic hatred, racial hatred, or ethnic tension refers to notions and acts of prejudice and hostility towards an ethnic group in varying degrees. There are multiple origins for ethnic hatred and the resulting ethnic conflic ...

and

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

purposes.Camorra: strage Castelvolturno, 4 ergastoli
, Ansa, April 14, 2011"Italian mafia members sentenced to life in prison"

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels broadcast in French, English, Arabic, and Spanish and are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-M ...

, April 15, 2011

References

External links

{{coord missing, Italy 2008 mass shootings in Europe 2008 murders in Italy 2010s trials 21st century in Campania 21st-century mass murder in Europe Casalesi clan Crime in Campania Deaths by firearm in Italy History of the Camorra in Italy Mass murder in 2008 Mass shootings in Italy Massacres in 2008 Massacres in Italy Murder trials Organized crime events in Italy People murdered by the Camorra September 2008 crimes September 2008 events in Europe Trials in Italy Violent non-state actor incidents in Italy