Praxilla Trabattoni / NBC News
A student was allegedly stabbed in this building in Rome, Italy, on Thursday.
By Praxilla Trabattoni, NBC News
ROME - A 19-year-old American was in a critical condition Friday after he was allegedly stabbed while he slept by a fellow student following a night of partying in the Italian capital, officials told NBC News.
The victim, New Jersey-born Fabio Malpeso underwent surgery for stab wounds to his lungs and other parts of his body.?Police said Friday that Malpeso was in a critical but stable condition in intensive care at a hospital in Rome.?
Authorities said the motive for the attack, which happened in an apartment that overlooks Rome's famous Colosseum?early Thursday morning, was unclear. However, detectives suspect "drug- and alcohol-related delirium" might be a factor.
The alleged assailant, who was taken to a police station and then a prison central Rome, was named in a police document as Alexander Schepis Reid, 20. Police said Reid, a resident of Reggio Calabria in southern Italy, appeared to have joint U.S. and Italian citizenship but were working to establish his nationalities.
A third man, an Italian aged in his 30s called Andrea Rinaldi, suffered injuries to his arms and hands trying to defend Malpeso, and was also in hospital, police said.
Paolo Guiso, a judiciary police inspector who is leading the investigation, told NBC News Friday that Reid, Malpeso, Malpeso's sister Federica and her boyfriend, Rinaldi, had returned to the apartment after partying in a nightclub Wednesday night and early Thursday.
Cop: Suspect 'at times catatonic'
Malpeso had drank alcohol, while Reid, Federica and Rinaldi had consumed "alcohol, hashish and ecstasy," Guiso said, explaining that all four had been tested for drugs and alcohol.
"Federica, Rinaldi and Fabio went to bed at 6 a.m. [Thursday]. Reid stayed in the living room. At a certain point, he went to the kitchen fetched a knife and went into Fabio's room, where he started to stab the sleeping youth," Guiso alleged.?
"Hearing the screaming and commotion, Rinaldi and the victim's sister ran in to see what was happening. They stepped in to defend Fabio, which resulted in Rinaldi suffering cuts to his hands and arms," he said.
"The motive of the attack is still not clear. At present we ? believe that the violence was brought on due to a drug- and alcohol-related delirium," Guiso added.
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Guiso said he had not been able to speak properly with Reid as he was "still half asleep and at times catatonic ... ?he was almost in a state of unconsciousness at times."
"We have taken him to Regina Coeli prison in the heart of Rome. Within 48 hours from the arrest, he will have to go before the judge who will need to confirm his arrest,? he added.
Reid's lawyer Vincenzo Comi was visiting his client in jail on Friday and declined to comment further until after the meeting.
Thursday was the fifth anniversary of the brutal murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, that led to the arrest, trial and eventual acquittal of American student Amanda Knox.
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