19 killed in Sao Paulo shootings; Police investigating links

At least 19 people have been shot dead within the space of about three hours in Brazil’s biggest metropolitan area, police said.

“We are not ruling out any motive at the current time”, Sao Paulo Secretary of Public Security Alexandre de Moraes told a news conference on Friday, giving repeated assurances that the “deadliest massacre of the year” would be thoroughly investigated.

He said 15 of the victims were shot dead in Osasco, three were killed in Barueri and one in Itapevi.

The mayor of Osasco, Jorge Lapas, said video footage supports a theory that the killings could have been reprisals for the earlier death of a police officer.

Not far away, one young man was shot outside an ice cream store.

According to Brazilian press reports, the shootings took place in 10 places in the Osasco area, with two more attacks in Barueri – all in a period of about two and a half hours.

At least seven other people were injured in the shootings.

“I’ve never seen so many people killed overnight in Sao Paulo”, a forensic expert told Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.

Local media reported the hooded gunmen had asked people about their criminal backgrounds, with those admitting past criminal activities being shot.