Driver attempts to breach Vatican gate, fired upon by gendarmes.

A car driven by someone with apparent psychiatric problems rushed through a Vatican gate and sped past Swiss Guards into a palace courtyard before the driver was apprehended by police. Vatican gendarmes fired a shot at the speeding car’s front tires after it rushed the gate, but the vehicle managed to continue on its way. The driver was about 40 years old and was in a “serious state of psychophysical alteration.” It was a rare incursion into the city state, much of which is off limits to the general public, especially at night.