Nineteen killed in Sao Paulo shootings

At least 19 people have died and another seven were injured in a series of shootings across the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Xinhua reported.

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

Globo News television broadcast security camera footage of one attack, showing a group of masked assailants entering a bar, ordering clients to raise their hands in the air, then shooting them. According to police the 10 people were shot dead after hooded men got out of a auto and opened fire. Video and photos of the murders and their aftermath show that numerous victims were killed in public places, shot down in cafe bars and along public streets.

Residents stand opposite a bar where some of the shootings occurred. Those who said they did were shot.

“We will investigate if the killings were committed by drug traffickers, by off-duty police officers or were acts of vengeance for the recent killings of two police officers”, he told reporters.

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

Local reports also suggested that some of the weapons used in the attacks, which took place over a three-hour period, were restricted to the military.

But police say the number of victims is much higher than in previous incidents.

Another two people were killed an hour later in a city park.

De Moraes said he was “sure that the police will solve it quickly”.