Lar de Garvão, Ourique
He killed another elderly man with an iron from the bathroom hours after entering the home. Sérgio Delgado, elected by the CDU in Castro Verde, was the tenant of the home. He says there was “political use” of the murder in Garvão.
The 92-year-old man who, on Saturday night, attacked three residents of a nursing home in Garvãomunicipality of Ourique, killing one of them, is hospitalized in the Psychiatry Service of Beja Hospital, pending a decision from the Public Ministry (MP).
The elderly man caused the death of another elderly man, aged 97, which led to the investigation being transferred from the GNR to the Judiciary Police (PJ).
The attack occurred at around 10:30 pm on Saturday. According to available information, the man reacted with anger at having been placed in the institution on a temporary basis — had been admitted just ten hours before. Using an iron that he took from a bathroom intended for people with disabilities, he violently attacked three users, with whom he had no prior relationship.
One of the victims, a 90-year-old woman, suffered injuries considered minor; a 68-year-old man was seriously injured and remains hospitalized in the Emergency Department of Beja Hospital; the third victim, José Manuel, aged 97, ended up dying after being admitted to the hospital.
According to a hospital source cited by , the nonagenarian was admitted to the Emergency Room and, after clinical observation, was admitted to Psychiatry. The same source emphasizes that it was not a compulsory hospitalization: the sick person will be “lucid” and remains awaiting guidance from the competent authorities.
According to information collected, the facts have already been communicated to the Ourique MP by the Faro Directorate of the PJ. Even so, it remains open whether the attacker will be subject to compulsory hospitalization or whether the process will progress to the criminal route with homicide being charged. If you are accused, you must be brought before a criminal investigation judge for first interrogation and possible application of coercive measures. If the MP decides that the suspect be brought before a judge by next Sunday, it will be up to the court in turn to assess the situation.
However, the case also had political repercussions. Sergio Delgadotenant of the home, reacted on social media, stating that the elderly person’s admission occurred following an urgent request made by family members and claiming that no clinical element was communicated other than reasons related to a prior trip to the emergency room.
On Saturday the home responded to an “urgent request made by family members the day before, a temporary user was exceptionally admitted” and “at the time of admission” – guarantees Delgado – “no clinical element was communicated, other than the reasons for going to the emergency room, perfectly natural given their age, that would justify special care for this person”.
And he says that there was “political exploitation of this situation”, associated with his “status as a councilor”.
“I have always known how to clearly separate my political activity from my professional activity. Still, given what happened, I have already made the decision and acted accordingly”, wrote Sérgio Delgado in a Facebook post, quoted by .
The person responsible also addressed the lack of an operating license for the home, attributing it to a procedural failure and stating that the situation had been known to Social Security for over a year.
Regarding the information that the home was in an illegal situation, he says that this “situation of irregularity arises exclusively from the failure to issue an operating licenseresulting from a procedural failure associated with excessive bureaucratic zeal” on the part of the competent authorities.
The home “continued to operate, albeit irregularly”, but “providing a quality and dignified service to its users, a fact recognized, publicly and unequivocally, by the users themselves and their families”, warns Delgado.
Councilor elected by the CDU in Castro Verde, Sérgio Delgado announced the resignation of mandate. Social Security closed Garvão’s home.
