A police thriller unfolded yesterday on the streets of a Brazilian city, when armed bank robbers took hostages and used them as human shields, putting them on the roofs and hoods of their escape vehicles.
The robbers told the hostages they would shoot them in the face if they did not stay in the carssaid one of the hostages.
At least 11 people were detained hostages for at least two hours. Police are searching for the robbers, most of whom are escaping arrest.
Three people were killed, including a suspect, in the episodic robbery in the city of Araçatuba.
“All I could think about was that I was going to die”, said one of the hostages on the Brazilian website UOL, according to the BBC. The man, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, said a gunman stopped him on the road where he was on his motorbike.
On the run, the hostages were tied to the vehicles. Attempt to prevent any counterattack by the police on the group. God save these people and all of Araçatuba. All bank branches in the center were raided – preliminary information. pic.twitter.com/lu0hBlcTCu
– Yuri Macri (@yurimacri) August 30, 2021
Although shots had already been heard in the city, he did not understand the danger. “I thought it was fireworks. Suddenly a man pushed me off the motorbike and told me to stop. At first I thought it was a police check, but then I realized. “
He described the robbers as “aggressive” and determined to terrorize their hostages. “If they saw someone looking out of a window, they would shoot in that direction to scare them all and show us that they were not playing,” the man said.
Another hostage told the G1 website that he was stopped and used as a human shield. “They told me to get out of the car, tore my shirt and threw my hat on the ground.
They put me in the hood of a car and told me: If you let go, if you try to fall down, I will stop the car and shoot you in the face. “I do not think I have ever held on so strongly again.”
The mother of a hostage called it a miracle that her son had survived. “He was told to climb on the hood and hold on with his hands. He almost fell and died. “
According to her, the hostages were released in a rural area and it took hours to return on foot.

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