Man shoots at dance school owner after enrolment refusal in Cagliari, then kills himself

The attack

A 52-year-old man from Cagliari arrived at a dance school in the Mulinu Becciu district shortly after 10:00 on Sunday, 12 July, and asked again to enrol in a course. The owner refused him for the second time in two days. He then raised a legally owned 12-gauge shotgun and fired at her. The woman fled inside the building together with a witness and was not hit. One round struck the upper part of the entrance along her escape path.

Era il secondo giorno che provava a iscriversi al corso di danza in palestra. La risposta della titolare, però, era sempre la stessa: no.

The suicide

Immediately after the first shot, the man turned the shotgun on himself and fired a second round in front of the school entrance. He died at the scene. When emergency services arrived, his body was on the ground with the weapon beside it. Police forensic specialists recovered two 12-gauge shell casings.

Investigation and autopsy

Officers from the Flying Squad, the Mobile Squad, and forensic police are handling the case under the direction of the Cagliari Public Prosecutor's Office. The Mobile Squad is led by Davide Carboni. The man's body was transferred to the A. Brotzu hospital, where an autopsy ordered by the judicial authority will be carried out in the coming days. Investigators are gathering witness statements to reconstruct the exact sequence of events.

The motive

Investigative sources link the episode to the man's repeated attempts to join a dance course, reportedly a flamenco class. He had first presented himself the previous day and, after receiving a firm refusal, returned on Sunday morning to insist, only to be turned away again. The prosecutor's office will evaluate all the evidence collected in the coming hours.

The weapon

The 12-gauge shotgun was legally held by the man. No other weapons were reported at the scene. The woman escaped without physical injury.