The Vatican experienced moments of great tension this Thursday after eight in the afternoon. A vehicle entered through the Santa Anna Door, the entrance through which tourists normally look out and through which one accesses the Vatican Pharmacy, bypassing checks by the Gendarmerie and the Swiss Guard. The driver first tried to get to the case in a relatively normal way. But when he was denied entry (only authorized vehicles are allowed to pass), he backed up and accelerated again, breaking through the protective barriers preventing him from entering the small state and driving down the road leading to the central part.
The story, presented two hours later by the Vatican Secretariat of State, illustrates the tension experienced. A gendarmerie inspector on duty at the time drew his gun and shot the rear tires of the vehicle. The projectile only hit the bumper, and the car continued its march towards one of the central courtyards (the place where the authorities are usually received). Nobody knew at the time whether it could be a terrorist attack or a person with problems.
According to the same story, the gendarmerie raised the alarm and warned the surveillance cameras located a few meters up in the Patio de San Damaso of the incident. At this point, the guards closed the Zecca Gate, which allowed subsequent access to St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Gardens, and Santa Marta Square (where the Pope resides). A time when the vehicle managed to reach the Patio de San Damaso where the driver, being cornered, drove away on his own.
The man, around 40, according to the same sources, underwent a medical examination by the Vatican’s Health Directorate and was diagnosed with a “serious state of psychophysical disorder”. The person is currently being held in a gendarmerie cell and is being handed over to the judicial authorities of the Holy See.
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