Fioravanti was doing military service when the first killing occurred, it is believed to have been committed by either Cristiano or Alibrandi in September 1977; a leftist militant was shot dead. The victims of Armed Revolutionary Nuclei that followed included several policemen (this was justified on the grounds of them being 'thugs and torturers'), comrades suspected of treachery, and investigating magistrates including Mario Amato. Fioravanti was 23, and Mambro 21, when warrants charged them with the Bologna massacre bombing of 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and both Fioravanti and Mambro were subsequently convicted of.