A 35-year-old Italian has been arrested for killing a psychiatrist in the Tuscan city of Pisa. The woman was attacked on Friday afternoon in front of the Santa Chiara hospital in Pisa and suffered life-threatening injuries, last night the doctors diagnosed brain death.
The arrested person is an ex-patient of the psychiatrist, who was already known to the police because of his violent behavior. When the officials broke down the door of his apartment yesterday, he fought back.
The day before the attack, the detainee went to the psychiatric hospital in Pisa to make an appointment with the psychiatrist, but was unable to do so. He attacked her the next day and was identified through video from the surveillance cameras. According to investigators, he harbored a strong grudge against the psychiatrist.
The case sparked debate in Italy over the increasing number of attacks on healthcare workers. Police guard rooms have been set up in the emergency rooms of some hospitals in major cities. The medical association complained that health workers were attacked physically or verbally every day. Women are particularly affected by this phenomenon.
