A seven-year-old boy was shot this Sunday in the Bela Vista neighborhood, in Setúbal, and transferred in critical condition to the Santa Maria Pediatric Intensive Care unit in the afternoon. According to what PÚBLICO learned from the Public Security Police (PSP), the victim was declared brain dead around 5pm. The crime suspect is being sought.
The child was reportedly shot with a shotgun from a moving car, shortly after 12pm, and taken to Hospital de São Bernardo, in Setúbal. A second person — identified as the child’s grandmother — was also hit, suffering only minor injuries.
At 7pm, the shooter was still on the run. To the PÚBLICO, the Judiciary Police said they knew the vehicle in which the shooter was following, but did not confirm that the victims’ family had identified the suspect, as reported by some media outlets.
The Setúbal Judicial Police is investigating the circumstances of the incident, which occurred on Avenida da Bela Vista, the neighborhood’s central road, very close to the 2nd Public Security Police Station. The PSP reinforced policing in the neighborhood this Sunday, as well as at the São Bernardo Hospital and the Santa Maria Hospital.