Arsenal defender Pablo Mari stabbed at shopping centre and rushed to hospital

Posted Friday, October 28, 2022 by Dailystar.co.uk

Arsenal star Pablo Mari has been stabbed at a shopping centre in Italy in a shocking incident where five others were also attacked, with one of them losing their life

Arsenal defender Pablo Mari stabbed at shopping centre and rushed to hospital
Pablo Mari signed for Monza on loan this summer

Pablo Mari has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed at a shopping centre in Milan.

The Arsenal defender, who is on loan at Monza this season in Italy, is one of six people to have been attacked by one man, who has since been arrested.

One of the victims has since lost their life, with another two said to be in serious conditions. Mari is said to be conscious, but is suffering from knife wounds from a slashing motion.

The attack took place on Thursday afternoon at the Milanofiori shopping center in Assago. A 46-year-old man has been arrested since the assault.

According to Rai News, a man took a knife from supermarket Carrefour before attacking customers seemingly at random, including Mari. Members of the public rushed the attacker before the Carabinieri, one of Italy's law enforcement agencies, took control of the situation.

Investigators have ruled out terrorism as a possible motive at the moment while the authorities are still probing the incident that has left several people hospitalised.

One witness, a young girl, said: "Now that we are far away we are calmer but we were really terrified, we did not understand what was happening, we saw people running away."

Football Italia have reported that Monza coach Raffaele Palladino and club CEO Adriano Galliani are travelling to be by his side immediately while Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar have also been in contact.

Arsenal have since released this statement: “We have been in contact with Pablo’s agent who has told us he’s in hospital and is not seriously hurt. Our thoughts are with Pablo and the other victims of this dreadful incident.”

Arsenal defender Pablo Mari stabbed at shopping centre and rushed to hospital
Pablo Mari signed for Monza on loan this summer (Image: Getty Images)

Galliani said: “Pablo Mari has quite a deep cut to his back, but fortunately it did not reach any vital organs like the lungs or anything else. His life is not in danger, he should recover quickly. He has some lesions, but not very serious. He is conscious and getting stitches.”

Mari and his wife Veronica Chacon have one child together, a son called Pablo Jr who was born in 2018. The couple have been married since the summer after dating for a number of years.

Mari signed for Monza in the summer on loan and had made a fine start to life with the Serie A club, making eight appearances and grabbing a goal in the process. The Spaniard was one of the first signings under Arteta, who brought in the defender initially on loan.

A transfer was made permanent in the summer but has largely found himself on the peripherals, making just 22 appearances since joining.