Six wounded in drive-by shooting spree in Italy, police say

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- An Italian man was arrested after seven people were injured in a drive-by shooting spree Saturday morning in the central Italian city of Macerata, authorities said.

Piazza Vittoria, a 28-year-old local man, is accused of firing a gun in different parts of the city, Resto del Carlino reported. Five men and one woman -- all black immigrants -- are hospitalized, with the most serious wounded suffering an injury to the abdomen, authorities said.

Vittoria, who has no prior run-ins with law enforcement, was nominated for the right-wing Northern League in Corridonia in 2017 election.

The shooting in the town of 43,000 people near the east coast began at 11 a.m., La Repubblica website reported and the gunman was apprehended two hours later.

Appearing with a flag tied around his neck, he got out of his black Alfa Romeo car and climbed the steps to the Monument to the Fall and shouted "Italy to the Italians" as he made a Roman salute, Resto del Carlino reported.

He didn't resist arrest and admitted he was responsible, police said.

"The alarm has ceased, we have made provision for the reopening of schools and also for the re-launch of all the city's public transport," Mayor Romano Carancini said. "The man who fired is a white man."'

The shootings occurred in Via Spalato and Via dei Velini, where an 18-year-old Italian woman was found murdered earlier this week. The chief suspect in that crime is a 29-year-old Nigerian.

Her body was dismembered and hidden in two suitcases.

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has temporarily suspended campaigning for the March 4 general election over the shootings.