Highway Patrolman Assigned to Olympics Is Shot in Rio
Marzio Deon Rezende, 56, a Highway Patrolman working at the Olympics was shot on Saturday morning (13th) when leaving standby duty at the PRF (Federal Highway Patrol) office in Rio's northern zone.
The preliminary police suspicion is that he was the victim of an attempted mugging.
Rezende is from Manaus, and is part of an integrated security force at Rio-2016 and came to Rio as a reinforcement for the PRF during the Olympics.
The responsibility of this police unit is to patrol access vias to Rio and expressways like the Linha Amarelha (Yellow Line) and Linha Vermelha (Red Line).
The policeman, whose birthday also was on Saturday, was shot four times. He was leaving the PRF station on BR-040 (Brazilian Federal Highway 040) at kilometer 125 at around 7 am.
The police are reviewing camera footage for clues in the search for the shooters.
He was taken to the Getúlio Vargas hospital in Rio's norther zone and underwent surgery. His medical state is considered grave.
Highway patrol and military police are searching in an attempt to find those responsible for the crime.
The case adds to other episodes in which agents assigned to the Games have been shot.
On Thursday night (the 11th) another policeman was killed after being shot in the head. Helio Vieira, 35, was in a squad car that accidentally entered into part of the Vila do João favela (slum).
The Chief-Minister of the GSI (Institutional Security Cabinet) of the Presidency of the Republic, General Sérgio Etchegoyen, said on Friday (the 12th) that the death of Helio Vieira, an agent from the National Force was a "fatality".
Interim President Michel Temer lamented Vieira's death, but added that the incident can't be allowed to "overshadow" the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Translated by LLOYD HARDER