(Photo : LAZARO JR./Hojemais Aracatuba/AFP via Getty Images)
Three people were slain when bank robbers used civilians as human shields, strapped to the hoods of their getaway cars as the modus operandi of daring bank robbers used for heists in Southern Brazil to keep the police at bay.
As many as 50 criminals with automatic weapons, bombs, and drones were on a crime spree in the Aracutaba province. They did several robberies and caught local police unprepared with their methods. They assaulted the police, even blocking roads with burning cars to buy time and grab local people as hostages before police reinforcements came.
Hostages were used as human sheild
Videos captured the ruthless gang getting all the hostages lined up in the streets, strapped on the car roofs and hoods, when they escaped from the crime scene, reported the Sun UK.
Placed on lockdown by the police, the whole city has been cleared of civilians on the streets. The robbery gang has established bombs, and everyone was to stay indoors until it was safe.
Brazil Bank Robbery: Attackers Use Hostages as Human Shields, Tie Them to Getaway Cars in Aracatuba (Videos)#BrazilBankRobbery #Brazil #Aracatuba #BankRobbery https://t.co/QakUGOm6Ns
— LatestLY (@latestly) August 30, 2021
In one photo, a bomb is seen not just as a simple device but with a proximity sensor that will explode if anyone tries to disarm it. Out of 50 perpetrators, authorities said that police killed one in the three bank heists committed in the middle of the city. No official state of the cause of death has been issued yet.
City mayor Dilador Borges remarked the police had their hands tied on stopping the terrorizing gang. He explained that the cops are hampered by hostage civilians who might get killed. This particular rob gang was able to think about their plan thoroughly. Their forces have secured the city center.
Gang scattered bombs around the city
No information is available about whether the robbers have released the hostages. Borges remarked that the robbers had stolen four cars and burned four too. The car wrecks were uses to hinder access roads.These thieves were so brazen that they burned one of the cars outside the military police, keeping cops trapped. Next, the gang went towards the city center and placed a car close to a smaller bank. They are Banco do Brasil, Banco Safra, and Caixa Economica as the banks to be stolen from.
No one knows how much was taken by the ruthless gang in their deadly crime spree. They exhibit sophistication in their actions by scattering bombs that would not be de-armed easily. At least four were injured as the thefts happened, no reports of the victims' conditions yet. One got shot and a cyclist caught in a bomb blast, noted CNN.
The police do not know how many hostages were taken, but the video revealed ten victims secured to the getaway vehicles. Per News site G1, this heist was supported by drones used by the criminals to spy on police as everything unfolded. It was the same Operandi in 2017 when a cash transport company got robbed. Thirty men from the same group of criminals surrounded the military police headquarters and killed one to keep help from coming to the police.
Related Article: Military Drones Attack Humans for the First Time, Can We Really Rely on AI Programming?
