
BUENOS AIRES — José Ignacio Bergoglio, the nephew of Pope Francis, was attacked Wednesday night by a band of armed thieves as he and his girlfriend were about to enter their home in the Argentine capital, Clarín reports.
The thieves forced the couple inside at gunpoint at around 10 p.m. local time in the apartment in Buenos Aires' Ituzaingó district. Marina Muro, Bergoglio's girlfriend, later wrote on her Facebook page that the attackers "pushed José to the ground and pointed two guns to his head, while pointing another one at me."
With two other relatives who were already inside, the couple managed to lock themselves in a room, and later heard gunshots. "We all shut ourselves in a room until we heard the shooting stop and the police arrived," Muro wrote.
Bergoglio, the youngest son of Maria Elena, the Pope's only surviving sister, later thanked the police for coming quickly.
Clarínreported that a search was on for the assailants, and there are no initial reports about how many attackers were involved, nor information any property loss or damage.