BUENOS AIRES: Two people on motorcycles killed in a supermarket belonging to the family of Antonela Roccuzzowife of Lionel Messi, in Rosario, in the Argentine province of Santa Fe early Thursday morning, local media and the city’s mayor reported.
A threatening handwritten message for Messi, 35, Argentina captain and seven-time World Player of the Year, was also left on the store door.
“Messi, we are waiting for you, (Pablo) Javkin (the mayor) is also a narco, he is not going to take care of you,” it read.
Javkin blamed security forces for not effectively tackling organized crime, which has grown in recent years in the important port city, where dozens of ships load thousands of tons of grain daily.
“I spoke (with the Roccuzzos) and they are worried,” Javkin told reporters outside the supermarket that was attacked.
Television footage showed bullet casings on the sidewalk where the business owned by Roccuzzo’s family is located. The facade of the building was hit by 14 bullets and the store remained closed Thursday morning.
Santa Fe Security Minister Claudio Brilloni told reporters that authorities had no firm assumptions about the motives for the attack. Prosecutor Federico Rébola said the Roccuzzo family had received no previous threats, a Rosario news outlet reported.
On the official ‘Team Messi’ Twitter account and Antonela Roccuzzo’s Instagram profile, there was no mention of the incidents.
The murder rate in Rosario is among the highest in Argentina, as gangs linked to drug trafficking coexist, according to court complaints, and clashes resulting in injuries and deaths are frequently reported.
The attack came weeks before Argentina played two friendlies in the South American country, three months after Messi led the team to victory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
A threatening handwritten message for Messi, 35, Argentina captain and seven-time World Player of the Year, was also left on the store door.
“Messi, we are waiting for you, (Pablo) Javkin (the mayor) is also a narco, he is not going to take care of you,” it read.
Javkin blamed security forces for not effectively tackling organized crime, which has grown in recent years in the important port city, where dozens of ships load thousands of tons of grain daily.
“I spoke (with the Roccuzzos) and they are worried,” Javkin told reporters outside the supermarket that was attacked.
Television footage showed bullet casings on the sidewalk where the business owned by Roccuzzo’s family is located. The facade of the building was hit by 14 bullets and the store remained closed Thursday morning.
Santa Fe Security Minister Claudio Brilloni told reporters that authorities had no firm assumptions about the motives for the attack. Prosecutor Federico Rébola said the Roccuzzo family had received no previous threats, a Rosario news outlet reported.
On the official ‘Team Messi’ Twitter account and Antonela Roccuzzo’s Instagram profile, there was no mention of the incidents.
The murder rate in Rosario is among the highest in Argentina, as gangs linked to drug trafficking coexist, according to court complaints, and clashes resulting in injuries and deaths are frequently reported.
The attack came weeks before Argentina played two friendlies in the South American country, three months after Messi led the team to victory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Neither game will take place in Rosario. Argentina will face Panama on March 23 in the capital Buenos Aires and on March 28 they will play in the province of Santiago del Estero against Curaçao.
It will be the team’s first games in Argentina since the World Cup. Coach Lionel Scaloni has yet to name his team.
