“Lino, stop, throw away the gun.” He shouted with all the strength he had to convince his childhood friend to stop. Massimo Vela, owner of the eponymous bar on Raffale Testa street, in front of Pasquale Pinto’s house, was one of the first to see the 53-year-old firing shots from his window. It was just past eight in the morning and a few minutes later terror descended on Rione Baronessa. The former security guard held the entire neighborhood hostage for over two hours, causing fear, anguish, and disbelief, which were also shared on social media through live videos on TikTok by the residents of the area.
“I left the bar because I saw Lino holding a gun and firing some shots in the air, but I couldn’t understand what had happened,” Massimo said, who grew up with the 53-year-old from San Giovanni, sharing evenings, birthdays, and even the day when the former vigilante met his wife Eva at a disco. The sound of bullets fired during the first moments when Pasquale Pinto appeared at the window caught the attention of the bar owner and even more so that of the neighbors. “I looked out the window after hearing female screams and the sound of the shots,” explained one of the neighbors next to the former security guard’s apartment. “I told him to put the gun away, trying to calm him down,” continued the neighbor, “but I was shocked when he pointed it at me, warning me that he could shoot me too.” Attempts to dissuade the man from his crazy actions lasted for several minutes, until the intervention of the police, who secured the entire area. “Before the police took me away, I tried to talk to Lino, hoping to convince him to throw away the gun,” Massimo added. “He was shouting something about his son who was on a cruise, as if something had happened to him, and immediately after he asked me to bring him a croissant.” Amidst the confusion, the screams, and Pasquale’s incoherent words, a cry for help somehow emerged. “Lino told me to go and call his sister, adding that none of his three children were at home.” “They made me lower the shutter and we stayed locked in the bakery, but we couldn’t believe that it was really Lino shooting from the window.” For the owner of the bakery in front of the former vigilante’s building, it was shocking to discover from the news circulating on the web that it was their 53-year-old customer. “We were locked in for two hours, at first we were scared, also for ourselves, but when we found out who it was, we were incredulous,” insisted the bakery workers, where the former vigilante bought bread daily. “Lino was a good person, calm, never raised his voice, and was extremely polite,” continued the bakers, who like all the other residents of the neighborhood described “his great love for his wife and three children.” “All of us in Rione Baronessa knew Pasquale’s goodness and the great attention and care he had for his family and his children,” added Genny, a friend who remained “locked in the nearby shopping center where the gates were closed for safety.” “We couldn’t move for over two hours during which we held our breath,” Mario said, while some people improvised live streams on social media.
