Racist kills two in Italy

ROME

- An Italian man with extreme right-wing views opened fire in an outdoor market in Florence yesterday, killing two vendors from Senegal, then critically wounded three other Senegalese immigrants in another Florence market before killing himself, authorities said.

Police said that the man shot himself in the head in the heart of the Tuscan capital, as police were approaching him.

Investigators identified the attacker as Gianluca Casseri, 50. RAI state TV said that he was known to police for having participated in racist marches by an extreme right-wing group. It said that he used a .357 Magnum revolver.

Italy's president, Giorgio Napolitano, decried the "barbarous killing of two foreign workers" and denounced "this blind explosion of hatred."

- Associated Press