Brazilian security forces have shot dead a man who hijacked a bus on a bridge across Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro and took nearly 40 people hostage.
The man took 37 people in the bus hostage before freeing six of them, officials said. About four hours later, the man walked out of the bus, flung a backpack toward police and then was seen falling to the ground as he tried to reenter the vehicle, TV images showed.
Police officials said he was shot by a police sniper. They did not provide any other information on him. All hostages emerged from the bus unharmed. Today, no family member of an innocent person will be in tears. Bolsonaro, a far-right former federal congressman who represented the state of Rio de Janeiro for nearly three decades, has long called for police to take a tougher line in the face of years of rising crime. Since taking office in January, he has sought to broaden access to guns and has pushed for measures to protect police if they kill on the job.
A total of people, or nearly five per day, died at the hands of police between January and June, putting on track for the highest number since records began in In Rio, many use specialised apps to safely navigate their way past the daily gun battles between police, drug gangs and vigilante militias comprised of current and former police officers.
Local media reported the unidentified hijacker was armed with a plastic gun but there was no official confirmation.
