State police officers arrested in Brazil on charges of executing men with 50 gunshots

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Over 50 bullet perforations were found in the bodies of the two victims who were being chased on suspicion of robbery last Wednesday, June 9. A sergeant and a soldier were arrested on Sunday, June 13, by decision of the Military Justice after video footage showed officers shooting without the young men having fired first.

Two State Police officers were arrested on Sunday, June 13, for allegedly chasing and executing two men with approximately 30 shots inside a stationary vehicle in São Paulo’s South Zone. The victims were suspected robbers. They did not fire a single shot, but were found dead with over 50 gunshot wounds in their bodies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgdsemryczQ&ab_channel=BahiaNot%C3%ADcias

The case occurred last Wednesday, June 9, but the crime only came to the authorities’ attention after a video, recorded by a witness and circulating on social networks, showed State Police officers shooting at the two young suspects inside a white Chevrolet Onix. The vehicle had been stolen along with the owners’ belongings.

Sergeant André Chaves da Silva and soldier Danilton Silveira da Silva, both from the 1st State Police Battalion (BPM), were arrested and are being held in the Romão Gomes Military Prison, in the northern part of the capital. Their preventive arrests were decreed by judge Ronaldo João Roth, from the Military Justice Court (TJM), at the request of the Military Prosecutor’s Office (MPM) and the Military Police Inspector General’s Office.

The attorneys of the two detained officers were unavailable for comment. In their statements to the Civil Police and the Inspector General’s Office, they had claimed that they shot at the suspects because they were armed and had resisted the police approach. According to the officers, one of them tried to fire, but the gun did not go off.

The two men killed by the officers had no previous criminal records and are listed as ‘mixed race’ in the police report on the case. Felipe Barbosa da Silva was 23 years old and his occupation was not determined by the investigation. He was in the driver’s seat and had 27 gunshot wounds. According to the sergeant and the soldier who shot him, Felipe was carrying a .38 caliber revolver with a scratched-off serial number.

Vinicius Alves Procópio, 19, was in the back seat and had 23 gunshot wounds. He was a student. According to the two police officers shooting, Vinicius tried to shoot at them with a .32 caliber revolver, but missed. The gun also had the serial numbers scratched off.

Officers’ arrest

“In the investigation of the suspects’ involvement, there is evidence of wrongdoing, ascertained through the footage of the occurrence and witness statements,” Judge Roth wrote in his decision ordering the two officers’ arrests.

The video circulating on social networks shows two State Police officers shooting into a car in Santo Amaro, in southern São Paulo, on Wednesday night, June 9. The two suspects inside the car were killed. According to the State Police officers, the men had committed a robbery, stealing belongings from a car and were fleeing in the vehicle where they were killed.

Then, they reacted to the police approach, pointing their guns at the officers, who shot to defend themselves and killed the two, according to the State Police.

Police Ombudsman Elizeu Soares analyzed the footage and said that there is suspicion of an execution during the police action against the suspects. According to him the footage shows only the officers shooting and did not record any exchange of fire to justify the officers’ reaction.

Elizeu also said that he will urge the São Paulo government to expedite the installation of monitoring cameras on police officers’ uniforms.

“I am sure that if these officers had had cameras attached to their uniforms, the outcome of this case would have been different,” said the Ombudsman. “There is no room for lynching in the rule of law. Cameras protect both victims and police officers. They protect everyone.”

Human rights

According to attorney Ariel de Castro Alves, specialist in human rights and public security from PUC-SP and member of the Tortura Nunca Mais group, the footage shows that the police officers’ version – that the accused did not surrender – does not hold up.

“Neither does the confrontation with the second accused in the back of the car, who supposedly shot at the police officers. According to the footage, only the officers were shooting,” said Ariel.

The attorney also said that according to the footage, the officers “at no time seem to be in a protective position before any kind of shooting or attack. They stand as if the young men were unarmed and already surrendered. Their positioning is clearly one of attack and execution,” says the attorney.

“Whoever is suspected of committing a crime should be detained, not executed,” says the expert.

The case

According to the secretariat, the police officers stopped two men suspected of being involved in a robbery moments earlier. They had stolen objects from a vehicle and fled in another car.

The men, driving a white Onix, escaped along the neighborhood’s streets until they crashed into a sign post. Faced with a new approach attempt, according to the State Police, one of the suspects showed his gun to the police officers and the other fired, but missed. Then the officers fired to protect themselves, according to them.

The police report was registered at the DHPP Homicide Division as “robbery, bodily harm while driving a motor vehicle and homicide resulting from police intervention.” Forensic analysis was requested at the scene and on the weapons seized from both suspects and the officers.

According to the register made at the Homicide precinct, “there is no apparent illegality in the action of the State Police officers, who caused the suspects’ deaths.” According to the civil police, so far what has been verified is that the officers acted in “self-defense.”

The police report also states that the following items were seized from the suspects and from the vehicle: a bank card machine, bank cards, R$1,000 in cash, a watch and a wedding ring. They also found two guns with scratched-off serial numbers, ammunition and a pocket knife.