Sandro Rosa do Nascimento
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Sandro Rosa do Nascimento (1979-2000) was one of the most publicized criminals in Brazil. do Nascimento boarded a public bus, intending to rob the passengers. However, the incident developed into a hostage situation, which was broadcast live by most Brazilian national television channels. This incident was the first time in Brazilian police history that a hostage had been lost during a kidnapping.
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[edit] The crime
On 12 June 2000, do Nascimento, a homeless man, went aboard a public bus (Omnibus #174). He was armed with a .38 caliber revolver, intending to rob the passengers. Moments after he announced the robbery, a passenger signaled to a vehicle from the paramilitary police, prompting the police to intercept the bus.
Having nowhere to run, do Nascimento took ten hostages. The bus was soon surrounded by police officers and television news cameras. Do Nascimento at first assured the passengers, the police, the television crews and their viewers that he did not intend to kill anyone. However, as the hours passed, he grew agitated and started to threaten the hostages' lives. During negotiations with the police, do Nascimento demanded weapons and a new driver to drive the bus (since the original driver had escaped through a window). He threatened to start killing the hostages if the authorities did not comply with his demands.
Do Nascimento singled out one of the hostages, Janaína Lopes Neves, for several dramatic demonstrations. With a gun at her head, do Nascimento used her as a messenger and human shield. He claimed that he was possessed by the devil, terrifying the hostages. do Nascimento staged Janaína's death, forcing her to lie on the bus' floor, and, after telling her to hold still, shooting between her legs. This made it appear to those outside and viewing on television that he had killed her.
At 18:50 local time, do Nascimento decided to exit the bus, using schoolteacher Geisa Firmo Gonçalves as a human shield. As do Nascimento's attention was being held in one direction, an officer from the special ops team, armed with a submachine gun, approached from another direction in an attempt to neutralize the gunman. Just prior the officer's reaching do Nascimento, the gunman turned directly toward the previously unnoticed officer who was then almost on top of do Nascimento, the officer's gun trained directly on do Nascimento's head.
A surprised do Nascimento reacted by flinching backward away from the officer and starting to fall to the ground, taking Gonçalves down to the ground with him. The officer reacted by continuing his advance and firing two or three shots at do Nascimento while doing so. None of these shots struck do Nascimento. Officers then converged on do Nascimento and Gonçalves as they lay on the ground. The gunman was immobilized by the police and taken into custody while Gonçalves, who had been shot, was taken to a hospital. Moments later, both the hostage and do Nascimento would be dead.
Do Nascimento could be seen to be alive at the time he was placed into a police vehicle. Some time after being taken into custody, he died of asphyxiation. There were later assertions that do Nascimento was intentionally killed by the police, and that his death was a matter of revenge for the public nature of the hostage event. Officers charged in the matter, however, were found not guilty when tried.
Gonçalves was shot four times. An investigation concluded she had been shot once in the face by the advancing police officer and then three times by do Nascimento in the ensuing struggle. The officer's shot was clearly accidental; it is unknown what do Nascimento's intentions were when he fired, and if all the shots, if any, were intentional.
[edit] Early life
After the crime, Brazilian psychologists discussed a number of facts that could have led to do Nascimento's behavior. For example, extreme poverty can, in some cases, lead people to take extreme measures. The fact that, in Brazil, little attention is given to homeless children might have also triggered do Nascimento to take such drastic action. Events of his childhood have been examined for their influence on do Nascimento's choices.
Sandro do Nascimento's biological father abandoned his mother upon learning that she was pregnant. When he was six years old, do Nascimento witnessed the murder of his mother by thieves. Do Nascimento then became a "street kid" around Rio de Janeiro, under the nickname "Manga". He became a drug addict, stealing to sustain a cocaine habit, and using other drugs, including glue. He also never learned to read or write, rotating between the streets and Brazil's horrific juvenile and adult jails.
Sandro do Nascimento frequented the Catholic Candelaria church in Rio de Janeiro. He would sleep and eat there, and made friends with other homeless children. On July 23, 1993, do Nascimento witnessed the infamous Candelaria church massacre. Some Brazilian policemen killed eight of do Nascimento's friends or acquaintances, and several others were injured. Do Nascimento himself was physically unharmed, but he was probably psychologically affected by the event.
[edit] Television documentary
The documentary "Bus 174" is about this incident, discussing how do Nascimento took the bus' passengers and the driver as his hostages, and how the Brazilian police managed the situation.
