Three Brazilian doctors, including the brother of a left-wing senator, were murdered on the night of Wednesday to Thursday in a bar in Rio de Janeiro, and this attack caused strong reactions in the country, even at the highest levels of government.

A fourth doctor who was in the same bar was injured by the gunfire and is being treated.

The four men had gone to Rio for an international orthopedic medical conference, according to local press. The bar is located on the promenade of the prestigious Barra da Tizuca district.

Police have already taken statements from eyewitnesses and are analyzing footage from security cameras in the area. So far, the motive for the attack remains unclear. A security camera video, which was broadcast by several TV channels, shows the doctors, sitting around a table, being surprised by three men dressed in black who get out of a white car and start shooting at them.

One of the victims, Diego Ralph Bofim, 35, was the brother of Sao Paulo senator Samia Bofim, of the left-wing Socialism and Freedom (PSOL) party. Her partner, Glauger Braga, is also an MP of the same party and is elected in Rio de Janeiro.

Justice and Public Security Minister Flavio Dino said on Platform X that he had asked the federal police to investigate the case, as there were some suspicions that the execution of the doctors may have been politically motivated.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his “deep sadness” and “outrage” at the killings, expressing his solidarity with the victims’ relatives.

The PSOL called for an “effective investigation” to identify those responsible. Black activist and Rio city councilor Mariele Franco, who was murdered in March 2018, was a member of this party. Five years later, the moral perpetrators of her murder have still not been identified.