ROME (AP) — Italy’s interior minister said Monday that a car-ramming and stabbing attack in the northern city of Modena cannot be dismissed as an isolated act, warning it highlights deeper challenges around integration and social distress.Despite ruling out terrorism, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said investigators must still fully examine the factors behind the attack.Eight people were wounded, four critically, when a 31-year-old man — an Italian citizen of Moroccan descent — drove into pedestrians Saturday before crashing into a shop window.Italian authorities said the suspect, identified as Salim El Koudri, attempted to flee and slightly wounded a bystander with a knife before being overpowered by passersby and detained by police. Prosecutors arrested him on charges including massacre and aggravated injury. A court ruling on whether to validate his detention was expected later Monday.
In an interview with daily Il Giornale, Piantedosi said the man is not suspected of a terrorist act, pointing instead to what he described as “a real and serious issue of social distress” and mental health concerns.
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“At this stage, there are no elements that correspond to the classic profile of a terrorist who plans violent actions,” Piantedosi said. “But all this cannot lead us to dismiss the attack as the act of an isolated madman.”The minister described the assault on civilians as “of absolute gravity,” saying it raises “profound questions” about integration, identity and marginalization, particularly among some second-generation immigrants.
