17 killed in Sao Paulo shootings; Police investigating links

Citing witnesses, Mr Moraes said that in at least two instances, gunmen wearing face masks arrived and asked who had criminal histories.

The demonstration came as lawmakers are considering a constitutional change that would give them power over indigenous land – sparking fears that congress could be influenced by lobby groups working for commercial interests.

The attacks happened in the municipal areas of Osasco, Barueri and Itapevi.

The Globo News television channel broadcast security camera footage showing a group of masked assailants entering a bar in Osaca, ordering customers to raise their hands, and then shooting them.

Osasco Mayor Jorge Lapa informed the G1 information web site he believed the assaults could possibly be associated to the deaths final week of two cops. One of the theories being considered was a “possible connection to two robberies, one of which took place last Friday when a military police officer was murdered and another where a civil guard died”.

Earlier, a spokesman for the security forces had described the wave of killings late Thursday as “unusual”.

Mr Lapas said the authorities planned to take measures so that the situation did not worsen over the coming days.

Media reports said all the attacks occurred in a period of about two hours and a half. Nevertheless, violence crime remains a serious problem in the city, home to powerful organized criminal gangs and a rampant drug trade. In 2012, the most recent year with comprehensive data, the Brazil government says it registered 47,000 murders although the World Health Organization estimated the figure as 64,000.