Italy: Romani infant hospitalized after being shot with pellet gun

On 19 July Italian media reported that a pellet fired by an air gun struck a Romani baby as she was being held in her mother’s arms. The child is now in intensive care in a hospital in Rome.

Authorities are investigating and asking witnesses to come forward. The infant’s parents were not available for comment, but another family member has confirmed to the media that the one-year-old is now at risk of paralysis.

The baby girl has undergone surgery. The pellet is said to have entered her back, damaged her lung, and caused a vertebral lesion which could paralyze her.

Her family reportedly lives in the Via Salone encampment. The Lombardy Region recently became the first in Italy to implement an internationally controversial “head count” of Romani people for the purposes of closing illegal encampments and deporting those residing without proper documentation.