Black Teenager Found Dead After Being Kidnapped; Family Suspects State Police Officers

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The death of 15-year-old Guilherme Silva Guedes infuriated the population in Vila Clara, in the southern part of the city of São Paulo, on Monday evening, June 15th. Kidnapped in the early hours of Sunday, June 14th, he was found dead in Diadema, a nearby city in Greater São Paulo.

Residents were outraged by what happened to the boy, they burned buses and blocked Engenheiro Armando de Arruda Pereira Avenue in the late afternoon.

A relative of the boy reported how he disappeared. According to him, around 1:30 AM on Sunday, Guilherme was standing outside the gate to his grandmother’s house, on Rolando Curti Street, in Vila Clara, when two armed men subdued him and took him away.

The family suspects that state police officers are involved in the case, since where the boy was last seen there was a piece of cloth similar to the uniform used by the corporation with the inscription “SD PM Paulo”.

A relative of the boy suspects of two men working as security guards in a SABESP warehouse, located at Alvares Fagundes street, a few meters from where the boy was last seen.

The same family member claimed that moments before Guilherme left his grandmother’s house, some youths had broken into the warehouse and “messed around”. The boys supposedly rushed out of the building and Guilherme went out and was approached. “In my opinion they confused him with those who broke into the SABESP,” he said.

The relative who talked to the report said that the boy’s body had gunshot wounds to the head and one of the hands, in addition to other injuries to the body, located still on Sunday near Alda Avenue, which connects São Paulo to Diadema, a few kilometers from where he was taken.

However, the family only managed to identify the body as Guilherme’s on Monday afternoon, June 15th, at the Southern Coroner’s Office, located at Engenheiro Luis Carlos Berrini Avenue, in Brooklin, south zone of São Paulo.

“He was super quiet, loving, we never saw him fighting. Guilherme was very dear in the area. The protest was because of him, everybody liked him”, said the relative.

Teacher Danielle Ferreira taught Guilherme an art class in elementary school. In an interview, she says he was a quiet young man. “A quiet little boy. He had his friends, he had a normal kid’s behavior. He was always tidy, he always came to class,” she recalls.

Danielle says she never had any trouble with him in class and vented on the suspicions of relatives and neighbors that police officers had kidnapped him. “I didn’t raise a boy to be killed by the police,” she says.

The woman says knowing about cases like this so closely scares her. “I’m very upset. I have a 13-year-old son and he doesn’t go out on the street because I’m afraid of the police,” she says.

Guilherme’s death triggered an uprising earlier in the evening. Residents in the region set fire to at least five buses as a means of drawing attention to the teenager’s kidnapping and death. Footage shows vehicles catching fire and a group of people hurling dumpsters in the middle of the street to block cars from passing.

After the start of the uprising, the population clashed violently with the PM. Video footage shows a young man being attacked by two State Police officers near Fulfaro Avenue. The Genocide Protection and Resistance Network denounced the PM’s violent activities in the region.

The report found that the ROCAM (Ostensive Rounds with Motorcycle Support) and the Tactical Force needed reinforcement in the protest. The PM Riot Squad was on site with an armored vehicle.

Other side

Asked about Guilherme’s murder, the São Paulo Public Safety Secretariat, led by Col. João Camilo Pires de Campos in the government of João Doria, said the DHPP (Department of Homicide and Personal Protection) is in charge of the investigation.

“The State Police are also monitoring the investigation. If police involvement is proven, appropriate measures will be taken,” says the portfolio on the boy’s family’s suspicion.

Regarding the protest, the fire department reports that it used seven vehicles to contain the fire outbreaks. “Police officers in the area and specialized battalions operate in the region to contain acts of vandalism and ensure the safety of people,” it says.

The story also asked the PM about the suspicion that police officers had kidnapped Guilherme. According to the corporation, Internal Affairs and the PM’s battalion in the area are assisting the Civil Police in the investigation.

“Two men in civilian clothes are said to have kidnapped the young man who was found dead hours later. There is no specific evidence to date of the involvement of any police officer,” says the PM, stating that “all scenarios are under investigation”.

Regarding the fragment of the uniform with the identification “SD PM Paulo”, the PM explained that “the name found does not belong to any police officer operating in the region and at the time of the events”.

Finally, SABESP was reached in order to learn about the warehouse’s security staff and if, in fact, it belongs to the company and if it was broken into. In a note, SABESP reported “that the place does not belong to the company. This is a private area, detached, which serves as a service yard for a company hired by a bidding procedure. The SABESP regrets the event, will ask the company for explanations and is at the police’s disposal in whatever may be required”.

Source: El País