A young man was killed after being shot in the head after he allegedly made offensive remarks about the girlfriend of the shooter a few months earlier. Paolo Taormina, 21, was murdered at around 3am on Sunday (12 October) outside the venue O Scruscio – owned by his parents – where he bartended at, in front of dozens of young people.
The suspect Gaetano Maranzano, 28, reportedly did not resist when he was arrested at his partner’s home just hours after the brutal killing. Maranzano allegedly claimed he had argued with Mr Taormina earlier this year over comments he had made about his girlfriend. On the night of the incident, the 21-year-old was trying to break up a fight between a group of boys when the two crossed paths again.
One table was reportedly beating a teenager from another group when the victim intervened to calm things down.
Amid the chaos, Maranzano allegedly pulled out an illegally owned 9mm pistol and shot Mr Taormina in the head in Palermo, Italy, NeedToKnow reported.
“About 10 of them were beating up a kid,” an anonymous witness told local media. “Paolo came out and told them to stop and move away because they were trying to work.
“It seemed over – then one of them shot him at point-blank range.”
Mr Taormina’s mother, Fabiola Galioto, was reportedly inside the bar at the time of the incident and witnessed Maranzano fire the gun at her son.
He died in her arms moments after he was shot. “His heart was still beating; I could hear him breathing,” she said.
Mr Taormina was studying in the US, yet had returned to Sicily a few months ago. His friends said the victim was polite, kind, and hardworking.
Maranzano, who is the father of a young child, is reportedly from a neighbourhood in Palermo neighbourhood, and has a criminal record for assault and drug offences.
The shooter’s own father was previously convicted of attempted murder, it understood.
An autopsy will be performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine to determine the cause of death. Police are continuing to investigate the incident.