The officer who fired the shots has not yet been heard as part of the disciplinary process that has been opened.
The PSP agent who fatally shot Odair Moniz, in October, in Cova da Moura, has not yet been heard by the General Inspectorate of Internal Administration (IGAI) within the scope of the disciplinary process initiated.
According to sources, the other agents present at the scene have already been questioned by IGAI and confirmed the statements previously provided to the Judiciary Police (PJ) and the Public Ministry (MP).
The agent responsible for the shooting, a young man in his 20s, assured both the PC and the MP that he saw the knife blade in Odair Moniz’s bag and believed that I was about to use it during a physical confrontation with another officer.
According to the agent’s report to the PJ, the police intervention began when Odair Moniz, a resident of Bairro do Zambujal, in Amadora, evaded a routine inspection. During the chase, the driver entered Bairro Alto da Cova da Moura, collided with several parked vehicles and ended up being immobilized. After getting out of the car, he resisted arrest, got into a physical confrontation with one of the agents and, according to the PSP, tried to reach the knife he had in his bag.
In this sequence, the agent fired four times: two warning shots in the air and two others that hit Odair. The victim was taken to São Francisco Xavier Hospital, where he ended up dying. The knife was seized at the scene, but was never displayed by the victim.
Initially, the National Directorate of the PSP classified the action as self-defense. However, the evidence collected and the contradictory statements point to the hypothesis of excessive force. The PC is even investigating suspicions that Odair’s knife will have been planted on the spot and falsification of the case record.
The case generated controversy, with calls from several organizations for a rigorous investigation of the facts, and several nights of contempt in the Lisbon area.
