A car crashed through a gate into Vatican City on Thursday evening. The car reached the eastern Sant’Anna entrance gate of the Vatican and broke through the two control gates of the Pontifical Swiss Guard and the Gendarmerie Corps of the Vatican State at high speed, the Holy See said. First, the car approached and was turned away by the Swiss Guard. After a maneuver, it returned and raced into the Vatican.
In an attempt to stop the car, one of the Vatican’s forces fired his handgun at the vehicle’s front tires. Although he hit the vehicle on the left front fender, the car continued to drive. The car, meanwhile, reached the interior behind the gate and the Cortile di San Damaso, the central courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. The driver got out there without being asked and was arrested by the emergency services, it said.
The approximately 40-year-old man was immediately examined by a doctor – the examination by the Vatican State doctors had shown that the man had a serious mental disorder. The Vatican gendarmerie arrested the intruder in one of the Vatican prison cells until further notice.