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Three police officers were killed and more than a dozen additional individuals got wounded in a seemingly intentional blast caused by gas at a rural property in northern Italy.

Event Timeline

The detonation took place as police and firefighters approached the property in the vicinity of the Verona region to execute an court-ordered eviction for two brothers and a sister aged in their 50s and 60s.

All three officers killed served in the Carabinieri force.

Legal Proceedings

Two individuals were taken into custody at the scene and another man who ran away following the explosion was located shortly later. Each of them have been admitted to the hospital.

The explosion could be heard as far as 3 miles distant and footage from the location showed the structure turned into a pile of rubble.

“We are in a period of mourning,” commented the Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who added that attempts had been made to remove the three family members in the past.

Property Situation

The president of the region of Veneto, the regional head, said the farmhouse was under an removal notice due to debts accrued by the siblings.

Mediators had been assigned to speak to the family members who had secured themselves into the property. When the police arrived shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials think one of the residents set off the detonation.

“As we went inside, we encountered a completely deranged action,” regional commander Claudio Papagno told news outlets.

“A gas cylinder had been activated, and the blast directly hit our members,” he added.

Incendiary devices were also found at the site, the interior minister said.

Impact Assessment

The wounded by the blast consisted of an additional 11 personnel of the military police as well as three members of national police and a emergency responder.

Based on information from the Verona prosecutor, the property was in a derelict state and had was without power.

The official thought the explosion had occurred on a floor above the access point and stated to the press it was a “deliberate and pre-planned murder”. Moments before the blast, he said personnel had “noticed a hissing sound, probably the gas cylinders being opened”.

Neighbor Statements

“We all knew the situation was dire,” neighbors stated to Italian media, noting that the trio had in the past stated to “detonate the property” rather than vacate the property.

“The explosion had left a ‘terrible, very painful and dramatic toll’.”

The Defense Minister Guido Crosetto joined other political leaders in honoring the three officers who had lost their lives in the service of their country.