STING OPERATION

Italian Police Arrest 7 in Connection With Disco Pepper Spray Stampede That Killed 6

Six people were killed when perpetrators sprayed pepper spray in an overcrowded disco before Sfera Ebbasta was set to perform.

Italian police have arrested seven young men in connection with a deadly stampede in an over-crowded disco in northern Italy last December. Six of the men are facing charges of manslaughter for allegedly using pepper spray to try to steal wallets and purses from teenagers waiting to see popular rapper Sfera Ebbasta at the Blue Langern club in Corinaldo near the seaside town of Ancona. Five teens between the ages of 14 and 16 and a 39-year-old woman who was attending the concert with her daughter were crushed to death in a stampede. Nearly 200 people also suffered injuries including some that required eventual amputations. The men arrested are between the ages of 19 and 22 and are part of a criminal gang that operates in northern Italy. Prosecutor Monica Garulli told reporters that the gang continued to operate after the deadly stampede--where she said one of the suspects robbed a teen who had stopped to help an injured person--but without pepper spray. The club, which had an official capacity of 900 people, had more than 1,400 inside.