By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Late on Wednesday (April 4th) Peter Campsie, a British oilworker living in Rio de Janeiro state was shot and killed in apparent carjacking in Niterói. Reports indicate he was shot twice as two carjackers attempted to steal his Lexus, as he was driving back from a business meeting to his home in Macaé.
Mr. Campsie, from Montrose, Angus, in Scotland, had worked in Brazil for sixteen years, currently as an operations manager for Aberdeen company Diamond Offshore Drilling International. He lived in the city of Macaé, north of Rio, with his wife and ten-year-old daughter. He also has two sons according to reports.
His family released a statement saying: “He was a man who loved life and and brought so much joy and laughter to those around him. Wherever Pete went, the good times followed. A darkness has fallen on us all as we try and make sense of why Pete had to die in the prime of his life.
According to official statistics issued by the Instituto de Segurança Pública (Institute for Public Security), there were 3,501 intentional homicides in Rio de Janeiro state between January and September 2013 – up 14.9 percent compared to the same period last year. In Rio de Janeiro city, the year-on-year increase stood at 4.8 percent for the period.
Last year an American musician based in Rio, Emmanuel Gilligan, had been shot and seriously injured in a bungled armed robbery in the district of Recreio dos Bandeirantes in Rio’s Zona Oeste (West Zone). Gilligan is singer and lead guitarist for local band ArizonA, who have played regularly everywhere from Shenanigan’s bar to the annual America’s Day, put on by the American Society of Rio.
In Rio de Janeiro’s Zona Sul (South Zone), where more tourists and expatriates tend to stay close to the famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, foreigners are alarmed by an increase in street crime. No current statistics were available for this report on crime specifically against foreigners in Rio, but certainly many incidents goes unreported.
Danny Middleton, a teacher from England who lives in Ipanema told The Rio Times last week, “I was recently robbed at night while walking along Rua Prudente De Morais [in Ipanema]. While passing a bus stop, I was held up by two men who proceeded to rob me at knife-point. Ipanema used to be a really safe area to walk around in, even at night, but things seem to have changed quickly.” On the same Saturday night, two more of Danny’s friends were robbed in Ipanema.
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