- A one-year-old girl was shot in the cheek by a police officer in São Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday morning
- The child was aboard her father's motorcycle when the police officer approached them on his cruiser and opened fire
- The officer, who is currently temporarily suspended from street policing, used an airsoft rifle, which is not approved for use during active duty.
A surveillance camera captured the terrifying moment a police officer shot a one-year-old baby being carried by her father as he rode his motorcycle in Brazil.
The footage shows a São Paulo Military Police cruiser approaching an intersection in the east side of Itaim Paulista, when the 29-year-old man and his daughter were about to approach them across the street.
The officer, who has not yet been identified, pulled out an airsoft gun and fired it, striking the girl on her left cheek.
Her father continued to ride the motorcycle and appeared to swerve several yards down the street before the video ended.
São Paulo's Public Security Secretariat said the man noticed his child was injured and rushed her to an emergency care center. The child was then transferred to Tide Setúbal Hospital, where she received multiple stitches and was discharged on Tuesday afternoon.
A one-year-old girl was shot by a police officer while riding her father's motorcycle in São Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday morning. The officer and their partner have been temporarily suspended from their street policing duties
A surveillance camera captured the moment a São Paulo, Brazil, officer pulled out an airsoft gun, which is not a department-approved weapon, and fired shots at a 29-year-old man riding his motorcycle with his one-year-old daughter on board. The child was shot in the left cheek and taken to a hospital, where she received stitches and remained hospitalized
The family has filed a report with the police in Itaim Paulista. The shooting was registered as attempted murder.
The Military Police Internal Affairs Department said it has temporarily suspended the two police officers from active duty.
“The two police officers who were in the vehicle involved in the incident have been identified and pre-emptively removed while investigations are ongoing,” police said in a statement.
The girl's godmother told Brazilian news channel G1 that the child's father had picked her up from her home and was on his way home when the officer opened fire. He only knew his daughter had been beaten when they arrived at the family home.
“We looked, it (the cheek) was already pierced and there was a lot of blood on it,” she said. 'We are shocked. If he had given the order and told him to stop, I would have left my house and picked up the baby. But one mistake doesn't justify another, because it's not the baby's fault at all.'
Brazilian traffic law states that children under the age of 10 are not allowed to ride on the back of a motorcycle. The violation is punishable by a fine or suspension of the permit.
The officer in the vehicle is not seen in the video instructing the baby's father to stop his motorcycle.
“There was no order to stop, there was no police approach, no form of report, no form of communication,” said police chief Gregory Goes.
The incident was recorded as attempted murder. The officer's name has not been released by São Paulo's military police
He said the attitude of the police officers in handling the traffic violation was wrong.
“I would say that the behavior fits the criminal type of attempted murder, at least as a possible intent,” Goes said. “I understand that the military police officer who has technical knowledge must assume that an airsoft shot from that distance, on a motorcycle in the opposite direction, could cause an accident, a fatal accident in which the child is killed by deliberate, conscious and voluntary death. '
Authorities say the officer fired shots from an airsoft gun, a weapon not allowed to be used while on duty.
The weapons use plastic bullets and are used by target shooters at ranges.
“There is no justification for using a tool that is not even part of the collection that is part of police activities… which shows the outrageousness of the behavior,” Goes said. “It can be verified from the images that the police officer, who was the driver of the vehicle, fired a weapon, after which (we) were able to see an airsoft gun in the images.”