Shocking moment police officer shot man in the leg who was filming cops’ violent response to a noise complaint in Brazil
- Three military police agents have been suspended in Maranhão, Brazil
- One of the cops shot a young man in the leg at a cafe Sunday in Rosário
- Surveillance video captured the police’s violent approach in dispersing the crowd, kicking at the customers and shoving at least two
- The police officer involved in the shooting also is seen on video smacking a male customer
Three military police agents have been suspended in northeastern Brazil after one of the cops was caught on video shooting a male customer at a cafe.
The shocking incident unfolded Sunday in Rosário, Maranhão, when the cops answered a noise complaint at the cafeteria.
A surveillance camera recorded the police officers’ aggressive approach when a group of customers refused orders to leave.
The video footage shows a cop admonishing the customers before a second law enforcement agent stepped up to a young man and smacked him in the face.
A police officer responding to a noise complaint at a cafe in Maranhão, Brazil, on Sunday attempts to disperse the crowd before the incident escalated and left a male customer with a gun shot wound to the leg
A young man uses his phone to record the police’s aggressive conduct before he was shot in the leg
Subsequently, the cop who was ordering the customers to leave the cafe went up to a female and shoved her into a table. The tense showdown escalated as the policemen kicked the customers, who did not retaliate.
In the background another male customer appeared to be recording the incident with a cellphone, prompting the officer who earlier smacked the young man to walk over to him and shoot him in the leg and push him to the ground.
Brazilian news outlet G1 accessed a video uploaded by a woman identified as Elma, the wounded man’s sister, who questioned the military police’s crowd control tactic.
‘My brother was shot with a bullet in the leg by the military police agents here,’ the woman said. ‘What right do they have to arrive at a place and shoot a person with a … bullet and then justify that nothing will happen, because the bullet is rubber. What right do they have to do that?’
A police officer stares down a young man after he smacked him in the face for failing to leave a crowded cafe in Maranhão, Brazil, after cops were responded to a noise complaint
The Maranhão Military Police said it did not condone the cops’ behavior and added that the internal affairs department would be leading the investigation.
‘All applicable administrative procedures regarding the conduct of the [military police officers] will be conducted by the corporation’s internal affairs department, as well as measures to prevent and repress actions of this nature, contrary to the foundations of the democratic rule of law, will be reinforced,’ the Maranhão Military Police said in statement.
‘The General Command of the [Military Police] emphasizes that it does not condone or legitimize conduct whose actions do not comply with the professional and ethical principles that guide the corporation’s activities.’