An off-duty military police officer shot and killed businessman Celso Bortolatto de Castro, 58, during an attempted robbery in Butantã, west zone of São Paulo, on Saturday (March 28). The victim's wife said the officer mistook her husband for one of the robbers. One of the assailants also died in the shooting.
Businessman Celso Bortolatto de Castro and his wife Rosmary Javelberg, 65, were returning from a motorcycle trip to São Roque when approached by two assailants on a motorcycle at the corner of Dráusio and Sapetuba streets in Butantã around 3 p.m. on Saturday (March 28). Castro tried to flee, fell off the bike, and returned to confront the robber trying to lift it, saying: "You won't be able to lift the bike," according to Rosmary.
Rosmary ran and, looking back, saw off-duty officer Ítalo Feitoza Hattori, 27, approach and shoot her husband in the back, neck, and back, causing instant death. Surprised by the wife's shout — "You shot my husband!" — the PM then fired at assailant Gabriel Farias Luiz, 28, who was fleeing on the motorcycle, hitting him twice in the torso and once in the arm. Luiz died shortly after.
Hattori was arrested in flagrante for manslaughter but released after posting R$ 3,000 bail. He remained silent during interrogation. The corporate .40 caliber pistol was seized, and the case is under investigation by DHPP.
The Public Security Secretariat stated that deaths from police interventions are rigorously probed by internal affairs, the Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Judiciary. The Military Police emphasized it is a "legalistic institution" that acts rigorously against member misconduct. One assailant fled and remains at large.
