Four bystanders tackle knife-wielding driver after car plows into crowd in Italy

Police work at the scene after several people were injured when a car drove into pedestrians in the centre of the northern Italian city of Modena, Italy, May 16, 2026. (Stringer/Reuters via CNN Newsource)

Shortly after a car plowed into a crowd of pedestrians in Modena, Italy on Saturday, four Italian civilians stepped in and tackled the vehicle’s driver, pulling him to the ground, according to the city’s mayor.

“The madman, I don’t know what to call him, the criminal who committed this act, he got out of the car brandishing a knife,” Mayor Massimo Mezzetti told state-owned news agency RAI. “Four citizens, whom I thank, captured him and handed him over to law enforcement.”

In his initial statement, Mezzetti said the car rammed into a crowd on Via Emilia, a busy street in the centre of the northern Italian city of Modena. Several pedestrians suffered serious injuries, he added, including one woman whose legs were amputated after being struck by the car head-on.

According to Modena’s public prosecutor, two victims had to have their lower limbs amputated due to the violent impact of the car, one of whom is in life-threatening condition. The remaining people struck sustained various degrees of serious injuries.

At a press conference, Prefect Fabrizio Triolo told reporters that a total of seven people were injured by the car.

Shortly after the car ramming, the driver exited the vehicle brandishing a knife, Modena’s public prosecutor said, targeting three men who blocked him as he attempted to flee. One of them suffered stab wounds, they said.

Authorities said two tourists, one from Germany and one from Poland, were among those wounded when the car plowed into pedestrians.

Dr. Lesley De Pietri, director of the Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit at Baggiovara Civil Hospital said two of the victims are in “extremely serious condition” and remain hospitalized.

The public prosecutor said the suspect – a 31-year-old man – had been issued a detention order.

There was evident intent to endanger public safety, as well as the lives of the individual victims, the prosecutor said, noting that the chosen time of the attack at approximately 4.53 p.m. local time was the “peak time of day” for residents and shoppers.

Investigations to determine a motive are underway.

Triolo said that the man suspected of carrying out the attack had a degree in business administration “and is currently unemployed.” Triolo described him as a second-generation Italian born in Bergamo.

The official added that the alleged attacker had been “referred to the mental health centre for schizoid (personality) disorders” in 2022, but that authorities lost track of him after a period of observation.

“At the time of his arrest, he was not under the influence of psychotropic substances, so he appeared to be lucid,” Trillo said. “The investigative scenario is obviously evolving, and we cannot provide further information on this matter.”

“I want to thank these citizens,” Mezzetti said of the four who apprehended the suspected driver. “The man was also armed with a knife; they showed courage and great civic sense. My deepest thanks go to them in this dramatic moment.”

When praising the four, Mezzetti also said that when “they threw him to the ground, one was slightly injured” by the knife.

Luca Signorelli told Reuters that he was helping a woman who had been badly injured by the car, when the driver attempted to flee.

“I chased him,” Signorelli said, adding that several others followed to help. “He disappeared behind a row of cars, then suddenly reappeared holding a knife in his hands.”

“A fight broke out,” said Signorelli. “I was stabbed twice, once in the heart and once in the head. I managed to dodge one of the two, and during the other one I grabbed his wrist and blocked him.”

Other eyewitnesses told Reuters that the woman who was struck had been pinned up against the front of a shop, and her legs had been “amputated” by the force of the crash.

“He crushed her right up against the shop window,” said one witness.

The mayor told RAI that the man is being questioned at the local police station, and said that authorities would provide an update later.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a statement on social media that he was in contact with Italy’s interior minister “for further details,” and thanked law enforcement for apprehending the suspect.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni cut short an official trip to Greece to travel to Modena on Sunday, where she visited a hospital and spoke with one of the injured men who confronted the driver.

Earlier, she described the incident as “extremely serious” in a message on social media.

“I express my closeness to the injured people and their families,” Meloni wrote. “I also extend thanks to the citizens who courageously intervened to stop the perpetrator and to the law enforcement agencies for their response.”

“I have spoken with the Mayor and remain in constant contact with the authorities to follow the developments of the situation,” she continued. “I trust that the perpetrator will be held fully accountable for his actions.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

By Sharon Braithwaite, Max Saltman, CNN