World

Police officer arrested over killings of eight Brazil soccer fans

Second suspect a former officer with a conviction for receiving stolen goods

Police on guard near the Corinthians fans’ Hall 9 headquarters, in Vila dos Remedios, west of São Paulo, after a shooting that left eight people dead on April 19th, 2015. Seven Corinthians fans were executed at the site, and an eighth person was shot at a nearby gas station. File photograph: Fernando Neves/AFP/Getty Images
Police on guard near the Corinthians fans’ Hall 9 headquarters, in Vila dos Remedios, west of São Paulo, after a shooting that left eight people dead on April 19th, 2015. Seven Corinthians fans were executed at the site, and an eighth person was shot at a nearby gas station. File photograph: Fernando Neves/AFP/Getty Images
Tom Hennigan
Thu May 07 2015 - 16:21

Authorities in Brazil have ordered the arrest of one serving and one former police officer suspected of carrying out the murder of eight supporters of São Paulo football club Corinthians last month.

The former policeman already has a conviction for receiving stolen goods after being arrested in a stolen car while carrying an unmarked firearm.

The two men were recognised by survivors of the attack on the “Pavilhão 9 Torcida Organizada” (organised supporters) group.

A second former officer is suspected of being the third man involved in the attack.

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Investigators are looking into whether a dispute over drugs or debts between the president of Pavilhão 9 and criminal elements linked to São Paulo’s police force provoked the killings.

Tom Hennigan

Tom Hennigan

Tom Hennigan is a contributor to The Irish Times based in South America