Sao Paulo violence streak kills 500

SAO PAULO – Nearly 500 people were killed by firearms during one week in Sao Paulo state last month, more than double the normal rate, medical examiners said on Monday as part of an inquiry into allegations that police used excessive force to quell gang violence in Brazil’s richest state.

At least 492 people died from gunshot wounds between May 12 and 20 across Sao Paulo city and state, but the total included suicides and deaths unrelated to clashes between police and a powerful organised crime gang called the First Command of the Capital, or PCC. Medical examiners declined to say how many deaths stemmed directly from gang violence, but the total number of deaths was significantly higher than the 187 that police had said were related to the bloody clashes.It was the worst wave of crime-related violence in Sao Paulo, the business powerhouse of Latin America’s largest country.Federal and state prosecutors requested the report from the medical board and are expected to launch formal investigations that may generate political fallout in a presidential election year.”It was an unprecedented catastrophe,” Desire Carlos Callegari, president of Sao Paulo state’s medical board, told journalists.Many bodies had between six and eight bullet wounds and some were shot more than 20 times.Human rights groups and public prosecutors have complained that innocent people may have been summarily executed by police or death squads of off-duty police in retaliation for the killings of at least 30 police officers by the PCC.- Nampa-ReutersMedical examiners declined to say how many deaths stemmed directly from gang violence, but the total number of deaths was significantly higher than the 187 that police had said were related to the bloody clashes.It was the worst wave of crime-related violence in Sao Paulo, the business powerhouse of Latin America’s largest country.Federal and state prosecutors requested the report from the medical board and are expected to launch formal investigations that may generate political fallout in a presidential election year.”It was an unprecedented catastrophe,” Desire Carlos Callegari, president of Sao Paulo state’s medical board, told journalists.Many bodies had between six and eight bullet wounds and some were shot more than 20 times.Human rights groups and public prosecutors have complained that innocent people may have been summarily executed by police or death squads of off-duty police in retaliation for the killings of at least 30 police officers by the PCC.- Nampa-Reuters