A routine afternoon walk through Rome’s Prati neighborhood turned into a terrifying ordeal on September 14, 2026. A 50-year-old woman was struck in the arm by a projectile fired from a window.
Sniper Attacks Strike Lone Women in Shadow of Vatican
The incident occurred on via della Giuliana, roughly 300 meters from the Vatican walls.
Extraction at Santo Spirito Hospital
The victim was walking past a restaurant that was closed at the time when she suddenly felt a pain in her left arm, according to details reported by La Stampa.
She noticed a bloodstain and realized she had been hit by an object—preliminary assessments suggest it may have been hard plastic or ceramic—fired from an air compressor weapon operated by someone hidden above.
Rather than waiting at the scene, the injured woman hailed a taxi and rushed directly to the emergency room at Santo Spirito Hospital. Doctors at the facility confirmed that a projectile had embedded itself near the tricep of her left arm, requiring extraction. She alerted the Carabinieri, setting off an investigation into the activity in the neighborhood.
A Pattern Targeting Females
What initially appeared to be an isolated shot is now being treated as part of a pattern.
According to information gathered by Zazoom and local investigative reports, Carabinieri are actively reviewing information regarding similar incidents over recent days. In each case, the victims share a commonality: they were women walking down this specific stretch of urban roadway.
A local witness underscored the nature of the assaults, stating that the perpetrator appears to deliberately target women.
“The author of the shots wants to hit only females,” a witness told investigators, adding that “it is only by sheer coincidence that no one was centered until today’s unfortunate episode.”
Carabinieri Scour Facades Near Vatican Walls
