RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Agatha Félix, an 8-year-old child was shot in the Fazendinha favela of Complexo do Alemão, Rio de Janeiro, and died this Saturday morning, September 21st.
According to eyewitness accounts, Agatha was inside a van, going home, when she was struck by a shot that would have been fired by a policeman from the Pacifying Police Unit (UPP). The officer would have suspected a motorcyclist and fired, but shot the child inside the vehicle. She was assisted at the Getúlio Vargas State Hospital, in Penha, in the northern zone of Rio de Janeiro, but did not survive the injuries and died.
“The one who has to provide information is the one who shot her. He killed an innocent, intelligent, studious, obedient girl, who had a future. Where are the policemen who did this? Their voice is the weapon. It’s not the governor or the mayor’s family or the police who are crying, it’s mine. Tomorrow they will apologize, but this will not bring my granddaughter back,” said Ailton Félix, the child’s maternal grandfather, at the hospital door.
In a note, the State Police press office reported that a team of policemen from UPP Fazendinha was attacked by criminals around 10 PM on Friday, September 20th and that the policemen fought back, triggering an exchange of gunfire. At first, no victims would have been recorded, but the corporation would have been informed, hours later, that a child had been admitted to the Getúlio Vargas Hospital. The PM reports that it will open an internal investigation to determine the circumstances of the incident.
Outrage
The child’s murder was reported firsthand by Voz das Comunidades, a media outlet for residents of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. Through social media, local residents and activists voiced their outrage and raised the tag #ACulpaÉdoWitzel, in reference to the current governor of Rio de Janeiro’s ostensive security policy.
“I JUST RECEIVED CONFIRMATION THAT THE GIRL AGATHA VITÓRIA FELIX DID NOT SURVIVE HER INJURIES AND DIED! WE CAN’T ACCEPT THAT THIS IS NORMAL, PEOPLE! IT’S ENOUGH! #VidasNegrasImportam #ACulpaEDoWitzel,” exclaimed activist Rene Silva on Twitter.
Source: Fórum Magazine