Early Tuesday, armed men stormed a Brazilian coastal city, robbing banks, taking hostages and shooting at least two people, according to the mayor and police.
The siege began just before midnight on Monday in the southern South American city of Cricima and lasted about an hour. Clasio Salvaro, Mayor, Said in a Twitter Post at 2 a.m. local time that the city was attacked and ordered residents to stay home. Both men were shot, one of the police officers was wounded but survived, officials said.
“Krikima is the target of a major attack,” Meyer wrote. “Stay home, stay home.” Mr. Salvaro said Radio Gaucha, A local station, or “bandits” looted three or four sites.
“I don’t know where they’re from, but they’re special.” “We have never experienced this in the history of the city.”
Brazil has the highest crime and murder rates in the world and bank robberies are rare. In recent years, gangs have blasted dynamite to rob banks and blown up cash machines, paving the way for millions.
Mr Salvaro said the robbers fled in a convoy of cars and were chased by police. Authorities arrested four people early Tuesday morning on suspicion of involvement in the killings. The mayor did not say how much money was stolen, but local news reports said police had seized some of it.
Christian Dimitri Andrade, commander of the military police in Crimea, told reporters that the attackers were “many men with rifles, long weapons” and called them “an organized crime gang that specializes in bank robberies.”
“We’re receiving information from residents who send us photos and videos,” he told Engeplus, a local news outlet. He said the attackers also set fire to a tunnel in the nearby town of Tubaro to try to prevent additional security forces from reaching.
Mayor Mr. Salvaro said the robbers held six city employees hostage as they drew street signs. He said they forced the crosswalk to block the street by closing the hostages But later freed them.
“I talked to them. They are good, ”said Mr. Salvaro Said in an interview with Globo News, A major outlet in Brazil. “The information we have is that everyone was released.”
The attack shocked about 220,000 city dwellers, many of whom were filming chaotic scenes from balconies and windows.
Bruno Adriano Della, a 20-year-old citizen, said he was awakened by the shooting.
“The whole city was in shock and there were shootings everywhere. No one knew what to do, “he said. “We were just praying for it to end.” He said the attack reminded him of scenes from the television show “Money Heist”, a Spanish crime drama in which robbers advance an extended hero.
Video footage shown to people online The streets were found to have cash After the attack.
“It was horrible,” said Gustavo Inacio, 21. The central parts of the city were attacked. “I couldn’t sleep for fear they would come to another neighborhood.”
Santa Catarina’s military police – a state agency with a number of battalions – were intervening in the city and seeking reinforcements to deal with the group, according to local reports.
Cricima is in the state of Santa Catarina and is considered the center of Brazil’s ceramic and floor tile industry.
Yan Zhuang and Daphne Engels contributed to the reporting.
