Kofi Inkoom
A man and his wife narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when gunmen fired over 40 shots at close range in southeastern Brazil, as reported by the DailyMail UK.
Surveillance footage captured outside the 29-year-old victim’s home shows him arriving at his garage just as the assailants rammed their vehicle into his armored car.
Two attackers are seen leaping out of their SUV and approaching the driver’s side of the victim’s car, opening fire with a handgun and a 12-gauge automatic rifle.
One of the gunmen, using the rifle, appeared to run out of bullets and retreated to their vehicle. Meanwhile, his accomplice continued shooting, and soon the rifle-wielding assailant returned, unleashing a barrage of bullets. He then turned and fired at the victim’s home.
The suspects attempted to escape in their SUV, which was reported stolen, but they had to abandon it due to a mechanical problem and fled into a nearby wooded area.
The victim was taken to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his shoulder. His wife was unharmed.
Rio Grande do Sul Civil Police chief Marcelo Gasparetto told the Jornal Informativo online news portal that the victim believed the attack was orchestrated by a jealous inmate.
“According to the victim’s report, this criminal was transferred to Soledade last year, and since then some crimes have increased, which is actually quite serious,” Gasparetto said. “Although the victim claims that the motivation was due to interpersonal relationships, involving women, we believe that it is due to drug trafficking.”
Investigators, however, suspect the shooting stemmed from a conflict between the victim and rival drug dealers. The victim had survived a previous murder attempt in 2023 and had since decided to purchase an armored vehicle.