Four military police officers from the elite troop of the Rio Military Police were away, this Thursday (19), after the execution of a resident inside the house, during an operation in Morro dos Prazeres, central region of the city.
According to the State Secretariat of Military Police, they were “removed from operational service and included in administrative activities, not carrying out street policing, until the end of the case investigation.”
Also according to the PM, the measure was taken after a preliminary analysis of the actions carried out during the operation on the last day (18/03), in Morro dos Prazeres, when “activities related to the misuse of individual use by police officers were identified.”
In addition to the Civil Police investigating the case, the Military Police Internal Affairs also investigates the conduct of the agents.
During the action, eight people died. Six of them were inside a house. The Military Police reported that during an escape, criminals invaded this house and took a couple hostage. That the police tried to negotiate with the criminals, but they shot and the police returned fire.
The resident, identified as Leandro Silva Sousa, was shot and died. The Secretary of Military Police, Colonel Menezes, stated that he was killed by bandits.
“We regret the death of resident Leandro, they kidnapped this family, BOPE had to act, tried to establish a negotiation and they cowardly shot at the police, also victimizing the resident in question”, said the colonel.
However, who was inside the house at the time of the shooting, denied the PM’s version and stated that the shots were fired by BOPE police officers.
“He shouted, here are residents, here are workers, and the shot came and hit him in the head” says Leandro’s wife.
“Even the criminals shouted: there is a resident here. The criminals were inside the house. They [o Bope] They came shooting and killing my husband as if he were a bandit”, concluded the dead resident’s wife.
Public Prosecutor’s Office carried out an examination of the house
The day after the operation, prosecutors and experts from the Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ) were at the house where the deaths occurred and carried out an examination. The MPRJ also monitored the autopsies of the bodies at the IML in the capital of Rio de Janeiro.
According to the Public Ministry, images from the body cameras of the officers involved and other information about the results of the operation were requested from the police.
