US pilot under investigation in connection with stabbing in Venice nightclub

According to a US Air Force spokesman, a US pilot is under investigation after a young man was hospitalized in serious condition over the weekend following a stabbing outside a Venice nightclub.

Neither Italian news agencies nor law enforcement have been able to determine the identity of the pilot or the other man arrested in connection with the stabbing, which occurred at around 4:45 a.m. Sunday morning in the parking lot of the Palmavira nightclub.

Staff Sgt. Heather Ley, a spokeswoman for the Aviano-based 31st Fighter Wing, declined to comment Tuesday on whether the pilot was still in police custody. Ley did not provide any further details, including the pilot’s duty station or unit.

The victim played a prank and got into a car that did not belong to him, reported the Italian news agency Ansa. The pilot and another man were in the car, Ansa reported.

According to police reports cited by Ansa, the joker was then stabbed in the back.

It is still unclear who is accused of using the knife. No charges have been filed yet. The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into attempted murder, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.

The prosecutor could not be reached for comment and the coroner also declined to comment on Monday.

The victim had at least three serious cuts and had to undergo emergency surgery on Sunday, Corriere della Sera reported. The hospital did not respond to requests for comment.

A Palmariva employee, who wished to remain anonymous because he is not authorized by his employer to speak, said the victim’s girlfriend ran back into the nightclub to get help.

“We saw two guys, an American and another, leaving the parking lot. We called the Carabinieri and the ambulance,” the employee said.

According to the employee, the two men were arrested shortly afterwards.

Ley said the Air Force was cooperating fully with Italian law enforcement authorities.