1970-01-01 02:00:00
A teenager was shot dead in the early hours of Sunday (17) in Cordovil, north of Rio de Janeiro, moments before leaving home to help his father at the market. Wesley Barbosa de Carvalho, 17, was shot at his front door.
The case was registered at the 38th DP (Brás de Pina) and then passed on to the Homicide Police Station.
The Civil Police say agents are collecting information to identify the person responsible for the crime. The Military Police say that they were only notified of the case after the victim arrived at the hospital and that there was no action by the PM in the region.
On Sunday morning, an intercity bus was set on fire on one of the streets of Cordovil. According to the PM, the action was a protest by residents of the region over Wesley’s death.
The crime took place near Cidade Alta, a community dominated by the TCP (Third Pure Command). A few kilometers away is the Penha complex, the main community of CV (Comando Vermelho). There are still surrounding neighborhoods dominated by the militia, according to investigations.
Bruno de Carvalho Vale, Wesley’s father, renovates and resells stoves. He says he was loading the van with equipment that would be sold at the Duque de Caxias fair, in Baixada Fluminense, when he was approached by a motorcyclist who was passing by the street where he lives with his family.
“A guy on a motorcycle passed by and said: ‘you lost’. I raised my hand thinking it was a robbery, then he fired shots. I still managed to run”, said the father in an interview with journalists at the IML (Legal Medical Institute), in the center of Rio.
Wesley reportedly left the house when he heard the shots, and was then shot. The victim’s father says he believes they may have been mistaken for criminals. The teenager would help his father at the fair.
“Wesley was sleeping and woke up to the gunshots. He went after me thinking I had been shot. That’s when he came across some more men, who shot him. Given the time of day, they may have mistaken us for bandits. But the surroundings Everyone knows our family and knows that we are workers. All of Cordovil knows us”, said Carvalho.
Wesley was rescued by a brother and was taken in the family van to the Getúlio Vargas state hospital, in Penha, but he succumbed to his injuries and died.
Bruna Barbosa, the teenager’s mother, said she tried to prevent her son from spending too much time on the street due to the risks of disputes between rival factions.
“He worked a lot, he wasn’t on the street much. We live in an area belonging to one faction and there’s another right next door. That’s why we never let Wesley be on the street for long,” said his mother.
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