ROME — Carabinieri police officer Maria Cerciello Rega has died after he was stabbed by two American tourists in the Prati neighborhood of Rome on Friday, reports the BBC.

Citing Italian wire service Ansa, the BBC reported San Francisco teenagers Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, aged 18, and Finnegan Lee Elder, aged 19, snatched a bag from a man after a drug dealer allegedly sold them a fake product.

Events unfolded when the bag's owner reported the theft to police. Cerciello Rega and his partner were sent as a ruse in plainclothes to collect the bag in exchange for the American's demand of 100 euros and a gram of cocaine.

The Washington Post reported that despite both officers identifying themselves as law enforcement, Elder repeatedly stabbed Cerciello Rega, while Natale-Hjorth punched Cerciello Rega's partner.

Ansa reported that during the autopsy it was discovered that Cerciello Rega had been stabbed 11 times, not eight as had previously been reported.

The Carabinieri said that on Friday morning officers discovered a large knife, as well as clothes from the night, hidden behind a ceiling panel in the hotel room where Elder and Natale-Hjorth were arrested.

According to a police statement, both Natale Hjorth and Elder confessed in the face of "overwhelming evidence" laid before them during police interrogation.

Ansa reported that Vice-Brigadier Rega will be buried on July 29th in his hometown of Somma Vesuviana, near Naples. His funeral will be conducted at the same church where he married just 43 days ago.