A promising 20-year-old swimmer
paralysed from the waist down in a shooting outside a Rome pub
Saturday in a case of mistaken identity said Friday he would
come back "stronger than ever".
Speaking on an audio message to Swimming Federation President
Paolo Bartelli, who visited him in hospital, Manuel Bortuzzo
said "As you can hear from my voice I'm well, I didn't expect
all this affection, you've moved me.
"If I could I would hug you one by one, all of you. Now I'll
go forward on my road. You'll see I'll come back stronger than
before. See you soon, a hug to everyone".
A preliminary investigations judge said the two men arrested
for the attempted murder "shot to kill and not to wound".
The 20-something Rome men were charged with attempted murder
on Thursday.
The men, aged 24 and 25, were charged with shooting Bortuzzo
in Rome's Axa district after prosecutors said there was
premeditation.
The men, Lorenzo Marinelli and Daniel Bazzano, face a prison
term ranging from seven to 20 years.
Prosecutors said the shooting was premeditated because the
pair returned to the pub after a scuffle there, bringing with
them a pistol they had buried in a field after discovering it
by chance about two months ago.
The two told police they had stayed with friends, whose
identity they refused to reveal, over the last few days, and
also camped out in the open.
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