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Gunmen Threaten Messi, Shoot Up Family-Owned Supermarket

Bullet hole in a counter of the supermarket of Lionel Messi's family after an overnight attack on March 02, 2023 in Rosario, Argentina. During the night, attackers made 14 shots to the closed premises of a supermarket which belongs to the family of Antonella Roccuzzo, Messi's wife. They left a written message mentioning Argentina's football team captain and Rosario's mayor, Pablo Javkin: "Messi we are waiting for you. Javkin is a narco, he will not protect you"

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Gunmen threatened Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi in a written message left Thursday when they opened fire at a supermarket owned by his in-laws in Argentina, police said.

Nobody was injured in the early morning attack, and it was unclear why assailants would target Messi or the Unico supermarket in the country’s third-largest city of Rosario, owned by the family of his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo.

The city’s mayor, Pablo Javkin, went to the supermarket and lashed out at federal authorities over what he called their failure to curb a surge in drug-related violence in Rosario, located about 190 miles (300 kilometers) northwest of the capital of Buenos Aires.

Police said two men on a motorcycle fired at least a dozen shots into an Unico branch in the early hours, leaving a message on carboard that read, “Messi, we’re waiting for you. Javkin is also a drug trafficker, so he won’t take care of you.”

Bullet hole in a counter of the supermarket of Lionel Messi’s family after an overnight attack on March 02, 2023 in Rosario, Argentina. During the night, attackers made 14 shots to the closed premises of a supermarket which belongs to the family of Antonella Roccuzzo, Messi’s wife. They left a written message mentioning Argentina’s football team captain and Rosario’s mayor, Pablo Javkin: “Messi we are waiting for you. Javkin is a narco, he will not protect you”

Getty Images via Getty Images

Messi has not commented. Considered by many to the greatest soccer player of all time, Messi is revered in Argentina, especially since he led the national team to the country’s first World Cup victory in 36 years in Qatar in December.

Messi currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain and spends much of his time overseas, though he often visits Rosario where he has a home in the suburb of Funes. The French team posted a photo on social media of Messi training on Thursday morning.

In Rosario, prosecutor Federico Rébola said authorities were reviewing security camera footage and that the investigation was “preliminary.” It was the first time Messi’s in-laws had received this kind of threat, he added.

Celia Arena, justice minister for Santa Fe province, where Rosario is located, said the attack amounted to “terrorism” by a “mafia” group meant to intimidate the broader population.

“The aim is to deliberately cause terror in the population and discourage those of us who are fighting against criminal violence, knowing that it…

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