19-year-old footballer killed, “It all started with a stepped on foot”. A 17 year old was arrested

A fight between boys, born from trivial reasons. Perhaps it was triggered by a simple step on the foot and, consequently, a dirty shoe. From words to aggression, up to gunshots. You can even die like this in the Neapolitan area. And you can die very young.
This time it was Santo Romano who lost his life, in San Sebastiano Vesuvio, on the outskirts of Naples, at just 19 years old, with no criminal record and the dream of becoming a footballer. He was in fact the goalkeeper of Micri, a team that plays in the Eccellenza championship and in which another boy who injured his elbow also plays. “News that shakes and overwhelms you – they write from the company on the social pages – as if we had been catapulted into a nightmare”.
As the hours passed, the investigators’ suspicions seem to have focused in particular on a minor from the outskirts of Naples. The Carabinieri of the Torre del Greco Company executed a detention order issued by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for minors against a 17-year-old Neapolitan. The young man is considered a serious suspect in the murder of Santo Romano and the attempted murder of a 19-year-old, committed last night in Piazza Raffaele Capasso, in the municipality of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio. The arrest will be subjected to validation by the investigating judge. The prosecutor’s office for minors will carry out investigations into some posts published on social media immediately after the murder of the 19-year-old Santo Romano, last night in San Sebastiano al Vesuvio.
In the identified posts, conduct involving glorification of the use of weapons, committed by other young people in the process of being identified, was recognised. Evaluations will also be carried out regarding the responsibilities of parents.

The images captured by the video surveillance systems present in the area where the shooting occurred, acquired by the investigators, could be decisive for the investigations; The Carabinieri of the Torre del Greco company and those of the San Sebastiano al Vesuvio station are investigating the case.
“The area is patrolled – explains the mayor of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Giuseppe Panico – unfortunately it was an episode that could have happened anywhere”. The square where the quarrel and the subsequent shooting took place is a “meeting point for young people”, explains the mayor. Tomorrow at 6pm, at the Municipality of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, a meeting for security and public order has been convened by the prefect. It will serve to take stock of the situation and understand whether the area, among the most frequented by young people in the Neapolitan hinterland, needs greater attention from the police.
According to what investigators have reconstructed so far, Santo Romano may not have been directly involved in the dispute that led to the shooting; this would be emerging from the testimonies of some present that evening. Those who live in the area where the tragic quarrel took place speak of too many presences and risks often reported to the competent authorities.
Only in recent days a 15-year-old boy, Emanuele Tufano, was shot dead in the central Corso Umberto while he was on a scooter; for him Naples shed tears of pain and bewilderment just yesterday, during the funeral. And also young were Giovanbattista Giogiò Cutolo, a 19-year-old musician killed in Piazza Municipio last August, and Francesco Pio Maimone, hit by a bullet that exploded in the Mergellina area in March 2023. Maimone was hit by a bullet fired from the gun held by a of the same age following a stomp that had accidentally soiled the killer’s shoe.
«We need to disarm Naples. We must disarm our territories. We must lay down our weapons. It hurts. There is an impressive sadness in all this but we must not resign ourselves. Violence will not win”, says in a painful voice the Archbishop of Naples, Don Mimmo Battaglia, who commented on the news on the sidelines of the commemorations of the deceased.