Gunmen have attacked a supermarket owned by Antonella Roccuzzo’s family, Lionel Messi’s wife, and delivered a chilling message.
Two men on a motorbike were caught on CCTV approaching the shop in Rosario, Argentina, where Messi grew up, before one open fired, shooting at metal shutters over the windows and door.
Messi was sent a handwritten, chilling note
TWITTER @CADENA3_ROSARIO5Roccuzzo family’s shop was shot at least 14 times by gunmen
According to Rosario 3, at least 14 shots were fired before leaving a handwritten note which read: “Messi we are waiting for you, Javkin is also a drug trafficker, he is not going to take care of you.”
Pablo Javkin is the mayor of Rosario, which is also Messi’s hometown.
The incident is reported to have happened in the early hours of Thursday morning in the western part of the city while neither Messi or wife Antonella Roccuzzo were present.
The supermarket is reportedly owned by Roccuzzo and her family and is understood to be managed by one of her cousins.
There is a theory that the attack was made in an attempt to extort money out of the Messi family.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or does not currently reside in Rosario, though he does own a huge property known as ‘The Fortress’ in the city.
TWITTER @CADENA3_ROSARIO5The gunmen also sent a chilling message
The message left behind at the supermarket, called the Supermercado Unico, was found on a bag of charcoal.
The first indications of the attack, said to have happened just before 3am, that most of the shots hit the blinds before the attackers fled on a motorbike.
Five police vans turned up soon after while the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Criminal Investigation Agency has since taken control of the case.
Messi and Roccuzzo have been married since 2017 having grown up as childhood sweethearts.
Both were born in Rosario and have known each other since they were children and have three kids together, Thiago, Mateo and Ciro.
The couple spent much of their time together at Barcelona, where Messi played for 21 years before moving to Paris following the superstar’s transfer to PSG n 2021.
LIONEL MESSI – INSTAGRAM5Messi and Roccuzzo have three children together
Messi won the World Cup in December
The 35-year-old’s future at the Parc des Princes is uncertain, however, as his contract expires at the end of the season.
There had been talk of a return to Newell’s Old Boys, based in Rosario, the first club he ever played for.
But in light of this attack, it remains to be seen whether that will have an effect on the Argentine’s decision in the summer.
Meanwhile, Javkin, who was also mentioned in the threatening note left behind at the scene, was elected mayor of Rosario in 2019.