RIO DE JANEIRO, RJ (FOLHAPRESS) – The man who invaded a bus at the Rio de Janeiro bus station this Tuesday (12) and held 16 people hostage for around three hours was sent to the Rio de Janeiro prison system this Wednesday (13) . Two other victims were shot, one of them in serious condition.
The suspect, identified as Paulo Sergio de Lima, 29, was arrested in the act after negotiations conducted by military police officers. He spent the night in the 4th DP, where he was taken after surrendering.
This Wednesday, he underwent a criminal examination at the Instituto Médico-Legal in the center of Rio. Afterwards, he went to José Frederico Marques Public Prison, in Benfica, in the north of the city, where he will still undergo a custody hearing.
The suspect was arrested for attempted murder, illegal possession of a weapon and kidnapping. He does not yet have a lawyer appointed.
In testimony at the police station, the man said he was a resident of Rocinha, south of Rio, and was trying to escape to Juiz de Fora, in Minas Gerais, after an alleged disagreement with the criminal faction Comando Vermelho.
Below, see what is known so far about the case.
HOW WAS THE KIDNAPPING?
At around 3pm this Tuesday (12), a Sampaio bus that was leaving the Rio bus station, in the city center, towards Juiz de Fora was invaded by Lima, who was armed.
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According to police, he was about to board the vehicle when he shot a passenger because he thought the victim was a police officer. The suspect, who said he was part of Comando Vermelho, was fleeing from members of the criminal faction after a disagreement.
“Throughout the boarding process, he felt uncomfortable, he thought that one of the passengers who was about to board was a police officer. That’s why he fired the shots,” said Colonel Marco Andrade, spokesman for the Military Police.
In the action, another passenger ended up being hit by shrapnel. According to the PM, the two people shot were shot outside the bus, at the vehicle's boarding point.
According to police, the suspect paid the fare in cash. Images from the security camera in the cabin of the Sampaio bus recorded the moment in which Lima purchased a ticket, at 1:51 pm on Tuesday, for the bus bound for Juiz de Fora that would leave at 2:30 pm. He appears with a backpack on his back.
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According to the investigation, Lima said that when he was in the cabin, he thought he had caught the attention of undercover police officers. Even though he was suspicious that he had been noticed, he decided to board.
“When he (suspect) got on the bus there was a breakdown and the driver went to call a mechanic. At that moment, more passengers were entering and he thought they were police officers,” said police chief Mario Jorge Andrade.
According to the investigator, Lima said that he had tried to give the weapon, a 9mm pistol, to the passengers who were getting on the bus and one of them was scared by the action. At that moment, he fired the shots.
After shooting the victims, the suspect entered the bus and took the other passengers hostage. The initial information was that there were 18 people, but the number was changed to 15 and 17. Later, the PM reported that there were 16 hostages held in the vehicle. The corporation also stated that, among the passengers, there was a child and six elderly people.
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None of the people inside the bus were injured in the action.
HOW WAS THE SURRENDER?
After the shooting, military police arrived at the bus station and laid siege to the entire area surrounding the terminal. There were three hours of negotiations conducted by BOPE agents, the elite Military Police troop, until Lima surrendered.
According to police, the suspect did not make demands, but was agitated and initially resisted police contact. He shot at the teams that were negotiating outside. No agents were injured.
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Then, however, the teams managed to make the man surrender without hurting anyone.
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“The hostage taker is arrested, all the hostages are free, safe”, said Colonel Marco Andrade, at 5:57 pm.
Governor Cláudio Castro (PL) used social media to thank the security forces for their actions in the action.
“The criminal who hijacked the bus is arrested and the hostages have been released. I was in direct contact with the police command, passing two orders: to protect the lives of the hostages and to be relentless in negotiations”, wrote Castro.
The agents involved in the action received tributes from the governor and had their names mentioned in the Official State Gazette this Wednesday.
WHO ARE THE VICTIMS?
The victim shot after being mistaken by a police officer was identified as Bruno Lima da Costa Soares, 34. He is from Minas Gerais and was in Rio for training at Petrobras, where he had passed a competition.
According to the Health Department of the Municipality of Rio, the patient underwent delicate surgery and requires blood donation. In the first hour of care alone, six bags of blood were needed.
SindPetro (Oil Workers Union) of Rio de Janeiro asked the category to donate blood in the name of the oil worker. The request for a donation had already been made by the municipal secretary of Health, Daniel Soranz.
Donations can be made at Hemorio (located at Rua Frei Caneca, 8, center), until 6pm. When arriving at the blood bank, the donor must inform the name of the victim.
Bruno was hit by three shots that caused injuries to his chest. One of the bullets is lodged close to the heart, and that is why he was transferred to Incor (National Heart Institute), in Laranjeiras, south of Rio. According to the hospital management, the patient is in the ICU, with the condition in stable health this Wednesday (13).
The passenger hit by shrapnel and rescued was not named.
WHO IS THE SUSPECT?
Lima is a resident of Rocinha, a community in the south zone of Rio. According to records, he underwent socio-educational measures when he was under 18 years old.
In 2015, at the age of 20, he stabbed a man to death in Minas Gerais. He claimed it was self-defense, but was sentenced in absentia in September 2023 to 16 years in prison.
Before this conviction, in 2019, he was arrested on charges of having committed serial robberies against buses and pedestrians in Rio, which earned him a 9-year prison sentence.
According to the Military Police, Lima participated in attempted invasions of Muzema – a community in the west zone -, in Jacarepaguá.
He told the police that he was on his way to Juiz de Fora, fleeing the Comando Vermelho, after an alleged disagreement with the criminal faction.
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY?
The Civil Police are investigating whether Lima is in fact a member of the Red Command. Since 2023, the criminal faction has expanded in the west zone of Rio and has promoted armed disputes with militia members.
According to residents of Rocinha, Lima is suspected of having robbed a woman who lives in the community. On Saturday (9), according to two residents interviewed by the report, Lima saw her near a drug selling point in the community.
According to these witnesses, he feared that the victim would report the case to members of the faction, who could kill him. Therefore, he started exchanging gunfire with the drug dealers. Afterwards, he fled.
At the police station, according to delegate Mario Jorge Andrade, Lima confirmed the exchange of gunfire with drug dealers, but did not say the reason for the disagreement.
According to his version, he is a member of the Muzema drug trade, in the west zone of Rio, and had gone to Rocinha, at the weekend, to pay off a debt in bars. There, he allegedly got into an argument with a drug dealer and exchanged gunfire. Even without having hurt anyone else, he was afraid of reprisals and started hiding in hotels, until he decided to go to his mother's house, in Minas Gerais.
After the repercussions of the bus hijacking at the Rio bus station, two people who had no connection with the case went to the police station and identified Lima as a robber who was operating in Rocinha and São Conrado. One of the witnesses stated that he stole a piece of jewelry from her on Sunday (10).
