By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-10-07 15:41:55 | Updated at 2026-10-08 01:51:42
17 hours ago
Salim El Koudri, the man who allegedly drove a car into a crowd of pedestrians in the Italian city of Modena, attempted to commit suicide Tuesday while in prison.
El Koudri, 31, is a second generation migrant born in Seriate, Bergamo who allegedly rammed his vehicle at over a hundred miles an hour into a group of innocent passersby in Modena on May 16 before abandoning the car and stabbing another person as he escaped. The tragic incident ultimately left seven injured and a dead woman, 55 year-old Monica Esposito, died of her wounds in July after spending two months in agony.
Italian outlets detailed that El Koudri attempted to commit suicide in prison by ingesting an unspecified amount of medication and was immediately transferred to a hospital. El Koudri’s condition has been reportedly assessed as not life-threatening but remains hospitalized as of late Tuesday night.
El Koudri’s reported attempted suicide comes just days after he appeared before a Modena court in front of his victims for the first time on October 2 for a psychiatric evaluation that assessed the man’s mental capacity. Per Sky TG24, El Koudri’s defense argued that the man was not of sound mind when he committed the attack, noting that he had been treated at a mental health facility in the past.
Thousand of people gathered to listen to the mayor of Modena, Massimo Mezzetti, at Piazza Grande in the center of Modena a day after a man drove his car into pedestrians injuring eight people, on May 17, 2026. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited people wounded by a driver with a history of mental health problems . (Federico SCOPPA / AFP via Getty Images)
The psychiatric evaluation, however, established that El Koudri was “of sound mind” when he drove his car into the crowd in May and was “fully capable” of understanding and acting with intent, with no prior record indicating the he suffered any mental illness capable of causing total or partial mental incapacity.
The experts also determined that there is no connection between El Koudri’s mental health issues and his actions — noting that while he exhibits “traits of social avoidance, marked insecurity, and paranoid-like rigidity of thought,” none of which fall below the threshold for mental disorders.
“The unlawful conduct does not constitute a symptomatic expression of a mental disorder, but rather the result of an act motivated by frustration, resentment, and a desire to make a demonstrative statement, carried out with clear judgment and preserved self-determination,” Experts Matilde Forghieri and Giuseppe Sartori reportedly wrote in their assessment.
El Koudri is thus been deemed fit to stand trial, and will face mass-murder charges.
“Every 33 hours, a prisoner in Emilia-Romagna attempts suicide,” Roberto Cavalieri, the ombudsman for prisoners in Emilia-Romagna region said in a statement shared with local outlets. “This incident is being discussed because the prisoner is well-known, but every 33 hours in this region, a prisoner attempts suicide.
“We must recognize their right to still be considered human beings and support them in moments of despair,” he added, emphasizing, “This in no way diminishes their responsibility or the pain of the victims.”
