A 30-year-old research assistant at Rome's La Sapienza University, Giovanni Scattone, is being held by police on suspicion of having shot and killed Marta Russo, a 22-year-old law student, as she strolled early last month with a friend through the campus. Russo was shot in the back of the head with a .22 bullet fired from the law building.
Scattone was arrested on June 15, after Bruno Romano, a professor of law philosophy, and two of his assistants had been arrested and charged with "withholding information". According to investigators, Professor Romano told faculty staff not to tell police they had seen three people, including Scattone, rush out of the room from which the shot was fired.
Police believe the shooting may have been an accident.