The jiu-jitsu world champion Leandro Lo was shot in the early hours of this Sunday (7th), and he was confirmed brain dead. The fighter watched, with friends and family, the Grupo Pixote show, at Clube Sírio, on Indianópolis Avenue, in São Paulo. After a disagreement, Lo was shot in the head.
The shooter was a 30-year-old off-duty military police officer, Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo. The suspect’s preventive detention was requested.
The family’s lawyer Ivã Siqueira Junior says that, according to witnesses, the disagreement started after a man entered Lo’s circle of friends, took a bottle of drink and started shaking it. At the same time, the man would be facing the fighter, as a form of provocation.
Lo would then have knocked the man down and immobilized him. Other people approached and broke up the fight, without any aggression, according to eyewitness accounts to which the family’s lawyer had access.
The man would then have drawn a gun and, facing Lo, shot the fighter once in the head, who was hit in the forehead. The shooter allegedly kicked Lo while he was lying on the ground.
Siqueira Junior says the shooter has not yet been arrested. Lo came to receive first aid from a doctor at the scene, who sought to revive him and then was taken to the Dr. Arthur Ribeiro de Saboya.
“The Military Police regrets what happened. The institution has initiated an administrative investigation and is collaborating with the search to locate the author”, says the SSP, in a note.
In its social networks, the Sírio club said that it sympathizes with the fighter’s family for the “regrettable incident that occurred” during an event “held by third parties”. The institution also informed that it collaborates with the authorities responsible for the investigation.
Grupo Pixote also commented on what happened and wrote, on social media, that it “deeply regrets what happened last night at the Clube Sírio where we were performing”. “Our condolences to the family and friends of the fighter Leandro Lo. We wish light and peace in this moment”, wrote the band.
MMA fighter Demian Maia, an expert in jiu-jitsu, paid tribute to Lo and his family on social media. “Much more important than how you left is how you lived. And what a life you had. Rest in peace Leandro”, posted Maia.
According to acquaintances of the world champion, the shooter was a purple belt in jiu-jitsu and, in the theory of his colleagues, knew who Lo was. Also according to Lo’s colleagues, his death moved the jiu-jitsu community (including police officers), which is already organizing a protest for this Sunday.
Police officer’s history
Military Police Lieutenant Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo, named by the police and by witnesses as the author of the shooting against Leandro Lo, had in his history the involvement in another confusion five years ago. At the time, he was accused by other police officers of assault and contempt in a nightclub in the capital.
According to the complaint received by the 1st Audit of Military Justice, on October 27, 2017, around 4:20 am, Velozo was at The Week, in Lapa, West Zone, on leave, when he practiced violence against another officer of a lower hierarchical level, when punching a soldier who had been called to attend to an incident at the scene.
According to the indictment, PMs were called to the address after Velozo got involved in a mess inside the club. He alleges that he only acted to separate seven people who assaulted a cousin of his.
“At one point, the soldier [a reportagem suprimiu o nome do policial] He moved away from the accused and stretched out his arm, clearly intending to keep him at a distance. At that moment, Lieutenant Velozo punched the soldier in the arm. Then, the accused threw another punch, aiming to hit the soldier’s face”, quotes an excerpt from the complaint.
Showing himself as “exalted” and “nervous”, Velozo would have then proceeded to verbally attack another lieutenant who arrived at the scene, saying: “you are my recruit”, “you coward”, in addition to several profanities.
The Public Ministry opted to condemn Velozo for having practiced violence against an inferior, for punching the soldier, and for contempt. However, Lieutenant Velozo was acquitted of both charges. There was an appeal against the decision, and the case is being analyzed in the second instance at the São Paulo Military Court of Justice.
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