China wants killers of man, baby caught
Rome will make 'targeted' response, interior minister says
05 January, 20:01
Monday 9 January 2012
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(ANSA) - Rome, January 5 - The Chinese embassy in Rome on Thursday urged Italian authorities to catch the killers of a Chinese bar owner and his baby daughter.
The embassy said it was "shocked and appalled by the tragedy" and condemned the killers' "atrocity and inhuman violence".
Zhou Zheng, a 31-year-old Chinese immigrant, and his nine-month-old daughter were killed in the Tor Pignattara area in the city's southeast late Wednesday, when two thieves demanded 5,000 euros from his bar's takings as he was returning home with his family.
A single bullet went through the baby's head and hit the man in the heart, according to an autopsy Thursday.
Speaking about the double homicide and a recent spate of unrelated killings, Mayor Gianni Alemanno said: "Rome's patience and that of her citizens is finished.
"There are criminal beasts that are operating in our city that must be stopped at all costs". To tackle the crime wave, 130 new police officers are arriving in Rome Friday, the first of a contingent of 400 that will move in by the end of January, authorities said Thursday.
Police will make a "targeted" response to the murders, Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri said. "We must not neglect any ambit or sector, concentrating, as the chief of police has proposed, a more incisive and visible action of the police on targeted territorial objectives," she said after an interior ministry meeting.
"The murder of a months-old baby and her Dad on their doorstep sparks dismay. But the State is present and will prove it," Cancellieri said, vowing an "immediate" response.
"We must give a signal to the community, but also restore serenity," she added.
Cancellieri, who met Rome prefect Giuseppe Pecoraro and national and local police chiefs, voiced "deep condolences and sympathy" with Rome's Chinese community.
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