The Vatican announced that the incident occurred at 8 p.m. on May 18 when a man in his 40s drove a car at high speed through the Saint Ann Gate, one of many entrances to Vatican City, a sovereign state of about 44 hectares in the heart of the Italian capital Rome, according to Reuters.

The man initially tried to enter the Vatican but was stopped by security at the gate. He then sped off and ran through the gate and then passed a second checkpoint near St. Peter's Basilica.

A Vatican police officer fired and hit the car, but the man continued to drive and reached San Damaso Court, an area of ​​the Apostolic Palace that has housed previous popes and is still the meeting place of Pope Francis. Pope Francis now lives in a guest house on the other side of Vatican City, according to Reuters.

The police raised the alarm and all other entrances were sealed off. The man was arrested there and taken to the Vatican prison. Doctors examined him and said he was mentally unstable.

Most of Vatican City is off-limits to the public, especially at night.

While the incident was unusual, it is not the first time a mentally unstable person has caused trouble in the city-state. In 2009, a woman jumped over the barricades at St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve and tried to attack Pope Benedict XVI. The leader of the Catholic Church was not injured.