Family loses two relatives to stray bullets in Rio de Janeiro in two years 

A family in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro lost their second relative to a stray bullet on Monday, January 6.

Wescley Silva, 29, died in the Miguel Couto hospital, in the south zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, after not resisting his injuries.

A bullet hit him in the head last Saturday in the Tirol slum in Jacarepaguá.

This region has been in a war-like situation between militia members and drug dealers since the beginning of the year.

Over the weekend, there was a confrontation between military police and criminals.

Wescley was taken to a hospital in Barra da Tijuca and then transferred to Miguel Couto in an extremely serious condition.

His brother, Lucas, also died of stray bullets in the same slum in 2021 when he was only 24.

The relatives of the two victims were inconsolable and held a vigil outside the hospital.

“They shot him, left him lying on the ground as if he was a bandit, as if he owed something. They told us that he died at dawn, and now nobody knows what to say to us. They didn’t give any assistance; they didn’t say anything.”

“I want justice for my brother. He is another victim killed in this endless confrontation,” declared his sister Amanda.

His mother, Suelly, accuses the police of being the author of the shooting: “He was a worker who was shot in the head by a policeman”.

In 2023, 35 people were hit by stray bullets in Greater Rio de Janeiro, of which eight died, according to information from the Fogo Cruzado platform.

With information from Revista Oeste