Mass shooting in Sinop, Mato Grosso, Brazil
On February 21, 2023, a mass shooting occurred at a bar in Sinop, Mato Grosso, Brazil. After losing R$ in a pool game, suspects Ezequias Souza Ribeiro and Edgar Ricardo de Oliveira returned with firearms and shot and killed seven people, including one child. The two shooters then fled the scene. Ribeiro was killed in a shootout with police the following day, while Oliveira surrendered to police on February 23.
Shooting.
On February 21, 2023, a Carnival day, 27-year-old Ezequias Souza Ribeiro and 30-year-old Edgar Ricardo de Oliveira lost around R$ in pool game bets to Getúlio Rodrigues Frazão at the Bruno Snooker Bar, a drinking establishment in the Lisboa neighborhood of Sinop. After being mocked by those present, the two left, returning shortly afterward in a white truck and carrying a 12-gauge shotgun and a .380-caliber pistol. They ordered the people present at the scene to line up against a wall and shot them to death. Before leaving, the two shooters took the money they had lost in the game.
Seven people were killed, including Frazão and his 12-year-old daughter. Six victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while a seventh died shortly after.
Victims.
The seven victims of the Sinop massacre (six men and a pre-teen girl) are:
Investigation.
Police were called after the shooting and identified the perpetrators through security camera footage.
On February 22, a task force assembled to capture the perpetrators found the weapons and ammunition used in the shootings inside the truck driven by the perpetrators. The Military Police of the State of Mato Grosso said that a 12-gauge shotgun and ammunition for multiple calibers were found.
Police determined that both perpetrators had criminal records. Ribeiro had been convicted of carrying an illegal weapon, robbery, conspiracy, bodily harm, and for threats; he also had an active arrest warrant at the time of the shooting. Oliveira, who was a gun collector and sport shooter, had been arrested for domestic violence. The Mato Grosso Shooting Federation confirmed that Oliveira was a member of a gun club in Sinop, but was expelled from the group due to frequent absences.
Manhunt.
On February 22, Ribeiro was killed in a confrontation with the Military Police in a wooded area near the Presidente João Figueiredo Airport, from Sinop. He was transported to a hospital, but died of his wounds. The following morning, Oliveira surrendered after a negotiation brokered by his lawyer. He was arrested in a house in the Jardim California neighborhood. As of February 24, Oliveira was in custody.
Reactions.
Brazilian politicians condemned the attack. Flávio Dino, Minister of Justice and Public Security, blamed the shooting on an "irresponsible arms policy that led to the proliferation of shooting clubs, supposedly aimed at good people". National President of the Workers' Party Gleisi Hoffmann compared former president Jair Bolsonaro to a "guru of hate" and said that his pro-gun policies "stimulated intolerance and the arming of the population". New Party politician João Amoêdo stated that the attack was "an example of irresponsibility in defining public policies and encouraging a culture of hate by the former president".
Sergio Moro, a Bolsonaro ally, stated that "[the perpetrators] must be hunted down, arrested, convicted and abandoned in prison for the rest of their lives". Moro was criticized for this statement, as he had signed a 2019 decree that made citizens' access to firearms more flexible.
References.
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