Rota operation leaves two dead in Baixada Santista; police officer is shot by a bullet

An action by Rondas Ostensivas Tobias de Aguiar (Rota), an elite troop of the São Paulo Military Police, left two people dead in the early hours of this Saturday, 3rd, in Baixada Santista, on the coast of São Paulo. According to the Public Security Secretariat (SSP), both cases, one in Santos and the other in São Vicente, resulted from clashes with the police.

In one of the actions, a 33-year-old military police officer was grazed in the arm and underwent medical treatment in the city's Santa Casa. The incident took place less than a day after a Rota soldier was killed while active in Baixada Santista, which triggered a new operation in the region – according to the PM, three people have been arrested so far.

“In operations from yesterday to today, in Baixada Santista, we had two more clashes involving Rota teams. One of the police officers was shot in the arm. Thank God the injuries were minor. The criminals were neutralized by Rota teams. We continue with operations”, said, in a post on social media, the state secretary of Public Security, Guilherme Derrite.

The Public Security Secretariat stated that, in the case in which the police officer was hit in the arm, a man, who has not yet been identified, died after shooting at Rota police officers at around 2 am on Avenida Francisco da Costa Pires, in the neighborhood São Jorge, in Santos.

“Military police officers were operating at the location when they were shot at by the criminal. The police intervened and hit the suspect, who was rescued and taken to Hospital Vicentino, but did not resist,” said the secretariat. The ministry stated that a 9mm caliber pistol and a bag with portions of crack and marijuana were seized from the man.

The case, registered as a death resulting from police intervention, unauthorized or illegal drugs and attempted murder at the Santos Judicial Police Center, will be investigated by the Civil Police and monitored by the PM.

In the other case, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday, the secretariat said that another man, who has also not been identified so far, died after shooting at Rota military police officers during an action on Avenida Sambaiatuba, in the Jóquei Club neighborhood, in São Vicente.

“The police ordered the suspect to stop, who tried to flee on foot and shot in the direction of the agents. The police intervened and hit the man, who was rescued, but did not resist,” said the secretariat, in a note sent to the reporter.

The ministry stated that, inside the property where the man had tried to hide, a backpack was found with 439 portions of marijuana, 113 eppendorfs with cocaine, two rocks of crack and a bottle of perfume launcher. “A 9mm caliber pistol was also seized,” said the SSP.

The case was registered as resistance, drugs without authorization or in disagreement, illegal possession/carrying of a firearm and death resulting from police intervention at the São Vicente Police Station. The Civil Police continues to investigate the facts, and the case is also monitored by the Military Police.

In both incidents, expert examinations were requested from the Criminalistics Institute (IC) and the Legal Medical Institute (IML).

Rota police officer is killed in Santos

The cases occur less than 24 hours after Rota soldier Samuel Wesley Cosmo, 35, was killed in Santos. He was shot on Friday afternoon, 2, while patrolling at Praça José Lamacchia, in the Bom Retiro neighborhood, according to the Public Security Secretariat. Cosmo was rescued, but he did not survive his injuries.

At the scene of the crime, a cell phone, a pistol charger and a 9mm ammunition case were seized, according to the secretariat.

After the incident, Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) stated that the São Paulo police are committed to identifying those responsible. Another soldier, Marcelo Augusto da Silva, aged 28, was killed in Baixada Santista, on the 26th, in Cubatão.

Secretary Guilherme Derrite went to the city to monitor the investigations. An operation was launched to identify possible suspects. According to the Military Police, at least three people have been arrested so far, but the actions continue.

At the end of July last year, soldier Patrick Bastos Reis, also from Rota, was killed while on patrol in Guarujá. Reis' death triggered the first phase of Operation Shield, which lasted 40 days and ended with 28 deaths, with complaints from entities against alleged cases of execution and torture, which was denied by the SSP.

As shown by the Estadão, deaths committed by military and civilian police officers on duty grew 39.6% in the State of São Paulo in 2023. 384 deaths of this type were recorded, compared to 275 in the previous year. On the other hand, deaths whose perpetrators were off-duty security agents fell by 17.8%: a drop from 146 to 120.

Recently, new stages of Operation Escudo were launched in other locations in the State, such as ABC Paulista, Guarulhos, Piracicaba and the south zone of the capital of São Paulo, where a military police officer was killed after being hit by a firearm during a robbery.