A Mafia mobster has been sprung from a security van after a spectacular shootout outside an Italian court between gunmen and police in which the gangster's brother was killed.

Domenico Cutrì, 32, went on the run after four masked men attacked security forces escorting him out of a court in the northern town of Gallarate, near Milan.

Cutrì, who was serving a life sentence for murder, had appeared before a local judge in the afternoon in relation to a separate case.

A gunfight erupted; two police officers were slightly injured and subsequently taken to a local hospital. One of the gunmen was also wounded and later arrested.

In the commotion Cutrì managed to flee as his accomplices reportedly used pepper spray to blind policemen and ease the escape.

However, Cutrì's brother Antonino was shot dead. His body was dumped outside a nearby hospital shortly after the gunfight.

Italian media said the escape resembled a scene from a Hollywood western.

Cutrì is allegedly an affiliate of the 'Ndrangheta, a mafia group with headquarters in the southern region of Calabria.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/italian-mafia-mobster-domenico-cutr-freed-wild-west-gunfight-1434972

Don’t give yourself up! Mum's TV message to Mafia son whose brother died freeing him from court
Feb 06, 2014 20:23 By Don Mackay

Domenico Cutri's mum Antonella tells him Antonio would have died in vain if he turns himself in after court shootout with police

PhotoMasiWanted: Domenico Cutri
A killer mobster's mum has urged her fugitive son never to give himself up - after his brother was shot dead as he sprung his sibling from court.

Police asked Antonella Cutri to make a television appeal to 32-year-old Domenico to hand himself in after he was freed in a shootout with officers, which left younger brother Antonio, 30, dead and two police badly wounded.

But detectives were left speechless when she said: "Listen to me Domenico. Do not give yourself up.

"Your brother sacrificed himself for you. Do not turn yourself in."

Speaking from her home at Inveruno, near Milan, she added: “Run, Domenico, run - otherwise your brother's death will have been in vain."

Police say murderer Domenico, one of three brothers and a sister, was a member of the Calabrian mafia known as the 'Ndrangheta - said to be more powerful, wealthy and violent than their Sicilian counterparts.

Mrs Cutri said dead Antonino had "idolised" his older brother and visited him regularly in jail.

She even admitted her dead son had been studying to become a helicopter pilot with a view to springing his brother from jail by air.

Domenico had been convicted on appeal in December 2012 of murdering Luckasz Kobrzeniecki, who was shot outside his house at Trecate near Novara in 2006.

The court heard Domenico decided to murder Kobrzeniecki because he was bothering his girlfriend.

He was jailed for life and an accomplice was jailed for 16 years.

But on his way to court for a fresh appeal hearing his younger brother launched the escape snatch with four henchmen and two getaway cars at Gallarate near Milan.

Police described it as a "commando-style" operation and witnesses described it as like a Hollywood movie as a fierce gun battle broke out.

The gang used pepper spray to blind the guards and Domenico was bundled into one of the cars and driven off at high speed.

Antonino was shot in the throat. His body was later dumped outside a local hospital.

But his father, Mario, insisted: "All my son did was use pepper spray but he was shot in the back and killed.

"I haven't even been able to see his body yet. He had a gun but he didn't use it.

"If he had wanted to he could have killed everyone but he didn't."

A police spokesman in Milan said: "We have intensified the manhunt to locate him and he is considered armed and dangerous as are the other members of the gang.

"We would urge anyone who sees him to not approach him and to call police. His mother has been questioned at length as have the whole family but they claim they don't know where he is."

Police added that "many of the family" had drugs and arms convictions.



http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/murder-domenico-cutri-mafia-mum-3119478#ixzz2sa7apIy5
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That's crazy, is Cutri high up?

im not even sure that he's made in the articles above he's described as "affiliate of the ndgrangheta" and in another article i read yesterday he was described as "an inmate with mafia ties". so it doesn't seem like he's that high up.

Pretty ballsy though!!