A nine-year-old boy who dreamed of one day playing football in Brazil was shot dead along with his father and cousin after gunmen burst into his birthday party in an attack sparked by an alleged dispute over drug trafficking, police said.
Footage on social media showed friends and family singing to Heitor Moreira moments before three men opened fire at his home in the southeastern town of Vespasiano.
The child, his father Felipe Moreira, 26, and his cousin, Layza de Oliveira, 11, were all pronounced dead at the scene.
De Oliveira was hit by two bullets, Heitor Moreira was shot four times and Felipe Moreira received 12 shots, Minas Gerais military police said.
A 13-year-old girl, her 41-year-old mother and a girl of 19 were injured by the gunfire and rushed to Risole Neves Hospital.
Nine-year-old Heitor Moreira, who dreamed of becoming a professional footballer, was shot dead along with his father Felipe Moreira and his 11-year-old cousin Layza de Oliveira at his birthday party in Vespasiano, Brazil, on Thursday evening.
Nine-year-old Heitor Moreira went to a football academy of the Brazilian club Atlético Mineiro
Layza de Oliveira, 11, was one of three people shot dead Thursday after two gunmen opened fire at her cousin’s birthday party in southeastern Brazil. Two shots were fired
Heitor Moreira’s grandmother, Izaltina Moreira, told the story G1 news broadcast that the gunmen arrived in a car and that two men got out as the guests walked out of the property’s gate when they started shooting.
‘One got out of the car, the other stood at the door. “The one who got out started shooting without looking at who was shooting, he started shooting at everyone,” she said.
Police records showed that Felipe Moreira and his family had previously been threatened by drug dealers in the Belo Horizonte area.
Felipe Moreira had a falling out with major drug traffickers, who were angry with him for refusing to transport the drugs they supplied because he received them from another distributor.
Because of the threats, Izaltina told Moreira Oh Tempo newspaper that the family was against organizing a party for her grandson.
“My son was threatened with death, he is involved in crime, so we didn’t want to celebrate,” she said. ‘We only held the party because the children asked for it a lot. I even made a video thanking God for that family moment and we couldn’t imagine that this could happen.”
Minas Gerais military police said the shooting was sparked by a dispute between drug dealers, including Felipe Moreira, who was shot along with his nine-year-old son Felipe Moreira and the boy’s 11-year-old cousin, Layza de Oliveira.
Felipe Moreira was seen on video singing with friends and family at a party celebrating his ninth birthday on Thursday evening
Felipe Moreira had trained at Atlético Mineiro’s academy
One of the suspects, Yago Pereira, 23, was shot in the leg and chest and was taken to an urgent care center and then found on Friday at the Contagem Municipal Hospital, 37 kilometers away in the city of Contagem.
He has been charged with three murders and is under police custody at the medical facility.
The hospital issued a statement saying Pereira was in “stable” condition.
Police are still looking for two other suspects, including Agnes Santos, 26.
“They came in shooting, without worrying whether it was a party or whether there were children,” Arley Santos, head of the Minas Gerais military police, told O Tempo newspaper.
Heitor Moreira attended Atlético Mineiro’s academy and trained with the club’s U-14 development team.
“My grandson dreamed of playing football and that won’t happen again. They killed a child out of cowardice,” said Izaltina Moreira.
“They had already shot at our gate, they wanted us to leave the area, but to do something like that… There was no need for such a monstrosity.”