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A trio of officers lost their lives and more than a dozen others were hurt in a seemingly premeditated detonation from gas at a country home in the northern part of Italy.

Event Timeline

The blast was triggered as police and firefighters entered the residence in the vicinity of the Verona region to enforce an court-ordered eviction for three siblings in their late 50s and mid-60s.

All three officers killed served in the Carabinieri force.

Legal Proceedings

One male and one female were arrested at the location and a third person who escaped after the explosion was apprehended not long after. The trio have been taken to the hospital.

The blast could be heard some 5km (3 miles) away and photographs from the location displayed the property turned into a heap of debris.

“We are in a period of mourning,” said the Minister of the Interior the Interior Minister, who added that previous tries had been made to evict the three family members in the past.

Property Situation

The leader of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, stated the farmhouse was under an removal notice due to financial obligations accumulated by the siblings.

Conflict resolution experts had been sent to engage the brothers and sister who had barricaded themselves into the home. When the police arrived shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities suspect one of the residents triggered the blast.

“As we went inside, we encountered a completely deranged action,” regional commander Commander Papagno informed the media.

A propane tank had been ignited, and the detonation precisely impacted our personnel,” he added.

Incendiary devices were also found at the property, the Interior Minister stated.

Injuries and Destruction

The wounded by the blast included eleven more officers of the police force as well as three officers of national police and a fire services member.

According to the Verona prosecutor, the building was in a poor condition and had no electricity.

He believed the detonation had happened on a story above the access point and stated to journalists it was a “intentional and planned killing”. Shortly before the explosion, he revealed personnel had “detected a whistling noise, likely the gas canisters being turned on”.

Local Response

“We all knew the situation was dire,” neighbors informed local news, noting that the trio had previously threatened to “detonate the property” rather than be evicted.

“The explosion had left a ‘terrible, very painful and dramatic toll’.”

The Defense Minister Minister Crosetto stood alongside other political leaders in honoring the three officers who had died in the service of their country.