A group of teachers was held hostage at an English and reinforcement school in the Butantã neighborhood of São Paulo. After committing a robbery, those responsible were approached by the Military Police (PM), exchanged gunfire and stormed the school. After almost 3 hours of negotiations, the situation was resolved with no deaths or injuries. Three men were arrested and one is on the run.
According to the PM, the incident started around 12:00 on Thursday. A group heavily armed with rifles carried out a robbery in a house on Avenida Morumbi, south of the city of São Paulo, attacking the resident. After police were called, the men fled in at least three vehicles.
There was a chase and exchange of fire along the Raposo Tavares highway. During the escape, one of those involved stole a Kombi, abandoned near the kidnapping region.
The group continued their escape on foot until they invaded an English and tutoring school in Jardim Bonfiglioli, near Butantã, in the west zone. There was class at the time of the invasion.
Early in the incident, the children who were at the scene were released, but the adults remained hostages. The region was isolated. Professionals from GATE, Special Tactics Action Group, continued the negotiations.
The group asked for a lawyer and even the wife of one of the criminals went to the scene. After nearly 3 hours, the adult hostages were released.
The Civil Police will investigate the incident. The criminals were taken to the State Department of Criminal Investigations, the DEIC, in the capital. The suspicion is that it is a gang specializing in robberies of high-end residences.
Source: CNN Brasil
