Sao Paulo – Police in this sprawling metropolis killed on Wednesday seven men allegedly involved in the criminal offensive that has buffeted Brazil’s Sao Paulo state in recent days, officials said.
With these new cases, the unofficial death toll from the attacks launched by the First Capital Commando, or PCC, has risen to 122, not counting the approximately 10 inmates killed in prison riots since the weekend.
The PCC is a criminal organization that operates inside the prisons in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s richest and most populous state.
Two men were killed early Wednesday after they opened fire on the Osasco city hall, in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area, by officers on patrol, police said.
A man was shot dead by police after he opened fire on an office of water company Sabesp in the Sao Miguel Paulista neighborhood, on the edge of the city.
Military police officers who were fired on by the occupants of a vehicle in the Casa Verde neighborhood gave chase and killed one of the suspects.
On the outskirts of the neighboring city of Guarulhos, three armed men, who according to police were planning attacks on the security forces, were also killed by officers.
In the Capao Redondo neighborhood, one of the most violent in Sao Paulo, three young men were murdered by gunmen riding motorcycles, but the case does not appear related to the offensive launched by gang members against police.
Officials said the offensive was in retaliation for the transfer last Thursday of 765 inmates, including some PCC leaders, from prisons in the interior of the state to the maximum-security facilities in Presidente Venceslau, about 620 kilometers (385 miles) west of Sao Paulo, and in northern Sao Paulo.
The attacks, which mostly targeted police, buses and courthouses, eased off on Tuesday but resumed overnight and early Wednesday, mainly in Sao Paulo and its metropolitan area.
In addition to clashing with police, gang members set fire Tuesday night to two buses and tried to torch a school in the Perus neigborhood, but they were repelled by officers.
Despite the fact that the Sao Paulo state government insisted that the situation had been brought under control by police, some officials admitted that there were “conversations” Monday with PCC leader Marcos Willians Herba Camacho about a truce.
The PCC leader is an inmate at a maximum-security prison.
The prison uprisings that affected 73 penitentiaries were under control by Monday night.
Between Sunday and Monday, riots also occurred at several prisons in the neighboring states of Parana and Mato Grosso do Sul, and they were apparently staged by inmates linked to the PCC.
The PCC staged simultaneous uprisings in 30 Brazilian prisons in February 2001, and more than 20 people were killed in the riots.
