A Vatican policeman fired a rifle and hit the car. He described the man as forty years old and in an unstable state of mind.
The man was later transferred to a psychiatric unit at a hospital in Rome for mandatory medical treatment. Italian news agency ANSA said the man had made two previous attempts on Thursday to enter the Vatican, saying he wanted to speak to the pope, but guards refused him entry. The breach occurred at around 0 p.m. local time, when the man broke through the St Anne Gate by car.