The number of deaths in PM actions in Baixada Santista rises to 6

The actions of the Military Police carried out in Baixada Santista, on the coast of São Paulo, after the murder of a soldier from Rondas Ostensivas Tobias de Aguiar (Rota) have already resulted in at least six deaths between Saturday, 3rd, and this Sunday, 4th, according to information from the Public Security Secretariat (SSP). According to the ministry, there was a confrontation in all incidents.

Agent Samuel Wesley Cosmo, 35 years old, was killed last Friday, 2, after being shot on patrol in the Bom Retiro neighborhood, in Santos. After the case, the Secretary of State Public Security, Guilherme Derrite, announced an operation to locate the suspects. According to the PM, three people were arrested on Friday, but the actions continue.

“The Civil and Military Police are committed to locating and arresting those involved in the SD’s death. Cosmo”, said the Public Security Secretariat.

The ministry stated that, this weekend, there were four incidents involving deaths resulting from police intervention (MDIP) in Baixada Santista: one of them with three deaths and the others with one each.

On social media, secretary Guilherme Derrite stated that, in the case that resulted in three deaths, Rota teams laid siege to escape points in Vila dos Criadores, in Santos, “when the individuals attacked the police officers”. “Three weapons, 110 portions of marijuana, 76 portions of cocaine and 196 portions of crack were seized,” he wrote.

In another case, Derrite stated that police officers from the 3rd Shock Battalion, in action in Baixada Santista in support of Operation Verão, came across individuals who shot at the team. “One of them, with convictions for robbery and theft, was neutralized and died,” he said.

When questioned by the report, the secretariat did not inform the location of the incident.

As shown by the Estadãothe other two cases occurred in actions involving Rota police officers in the early hours of this Saturday.

According to the Public Security Secretariat, 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.

After the death of soldier Samuel Wesley Cosmo, 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 days earlier in Cubatão, in Baixada Santista. Last month, a PM soldier died after being hit by a gunshot during a robbery in Parelheiros, in the south zone of São Paulo.

The Brazilian Public Security Forum, a reference entity on the topic, took a position on recent events in a note published on social media.

“The governor of São Paulo needs to review his public security policy with the São Paulo police commands and actually strengthen the protection mechanisms for the more than 100 thousand professionals who work to guarantee the safety of the São Paulo population”, says the entity.

Operation Shield

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 Estadãodeaths 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.

Recently, new stages of Operation Shield were launched in other locations in the State, such as ABC Paulista, Guarulhos, Piracicaba and the south zone of the capital of São Paulo.