A call to the Nuoro Police Headquarters switchboard, at 3:25 p.m., announces a bank robbery. Inside, a man armed with a knife has barricaded himself with three hostages. It is the beginning of a realistic simulation, part of an exercise underway at the Nuoro local police barracks, on top of Mount Ortobene. The anti-robbery protocol is immediately triggered . In less than ten minutes, two patrols from the Flying Squad arrive on the scene, surround the building – transformed for the occasion into a bank branch – and take into custody one of the three hostages, who managed to escape.

"Help, there's a man armed with a knife!" shouts the freed hostage, who provides the agents with initial information: the man has taken the bank manager and two other people hostage. One of them managed to free himself, the other two are still inside. The operational management on site is entrusted to the commander of the Nuoro Flying Squad, Giuseppe Saracino, while the general coordination is directed by Fabio Di Lella, head of the Flying Squad. "He wanted the money, he said it was his. They didn't give it to him and he got nervous," says the hostage on the run. The robber, exasperated, has barricaded himself in the premises and is holding the two remaining hostages under threat.

For the first time in a local exercise, the Nuoro Police Headquarters is employing personnel specialized in negotiating with armed and dangerous individuals, a recently formed unit. Also on site are the special units, Uopi, ready to intervene in the event of an escalation. The exercise is part of an advanced training program for the management of critical situations, aimed at strengthening the coordinated reaction capacity of the police forces in the event of real events.

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