The seemingly irreversible descent in to the “Wild West” which seems to be gradually arriving in the valley – the shooting of a pensioner in Fornaci during August (article here) and the murder a young woman by multiple pistols shots in Bagni di Lucca made 2010 a year to remember for gun crimes, something which has never happened in this area up until now. 2011 has continued that trend with an armed hold-up at 6 pm this evening at a tobacconist in Fornaci di Barga. A man walked into the tobacconists on Via Provinciale, Fornaci di Barga, his face covered with a scarf and held up the owner of the shop and one of her customers at gunpoint and left taking with him the day’s takings – estimated at around 7oo to 800 Euros. He then left on foot as quickly as he had arrived leaving the two women no clear idea of direction of his escape path. They immediately called the Caribinieri who have started an investigation into the robbery. It is unclear at the moment if the gun used was real or fake but either way it is a worrying trend.