Brazilian surfer ‘shot by off-duty police officer who had been on drinking binge’

Brazilian surfing professional Ricardo dos Santos was shot in the back as he walked away from an off-duty police officer who had been on an all-night drinking binge, family members have told the Guardian.

The allegations emerged as thousands of mourners, including some of the world’s top surfers, attended a funeral for the 24-year-old on Wednesday at Guarda do Embaú, near where he was killed on Monday after an altercation with the officer, Luiz Paulo Mota Brentano, and the officer’s younger brother.

“Ricardinho”, as the surfer was best known in his native country, was shot three times after approaching two men who had been creating a disturbance near his home at about 7am on Monday.

Mauro da Silva, an uncle, said the incident started when the surfer and his grandfather asked the man – who was not in uniform – to move his car from an off-road site where he was trying to fix a pipe. The policeman reportedly responded “Quem manda aqui é nós” (We’re the ones in charge around here). Dos Santos replied that it was his neighbourhood and he had never seen them before. Then the man started shooting from inside the car, said Da Silva. “One hit Ricardo in the back, and the other two in his side. He was walking away.” The surfer was airlifted to hospital, but despite four operations and a desperate campaign for blood donations among friends, he died of his wounds on Tuesday.

Brentano is under arrest at Joinsville military police headquarters. He has told investigators he acted in self-defence after Dos Santos threatened him with a machete. This is disputed by family members.

“His grandfather had a pickaxe with him to get at the pipe. But the only thing that Ricardo had in his hands was his phone,” said Da Silva.

Marcelo Arruda, the chief investigator, told the Guardian no knife was found at the scene and no other witnesses – apart from the policeman’s younger brother – reported seeing a knife. Arruda said the policeman and his brother had been drinking and partying so neither of them had slept.

Members of Arruda’s investigative team reported that one of the shots was in the back. But, Arruda said, nothing could be confirmed until the results of the autopsy are finalised.

Police have impounded Brentano’s car and are carrying out forensic tests on his gun. There are also plans for a reenactment.

The surfer’s grandfather, Nicholas dos Santos, who was beside the victim when he was shot, said: “What happened was cowardly.” When the death was announced at the hospital on Tuesday, his mother, Luciene dos Santos, collapsed to the ground, shouting, “You lie, you lie, I want my son back. Bring him back, bring, please.”

Renan Rocha, a close friend of the surfer and his family, described Dos Santos as a “very calm and tranquil person,” although he may have spoken rudely to the off-duty policeman because the officer was drunk after a night out with his friends and was causing a disturbance in a residential area early in the morning. Rocha said several shots missed as well as the three that hit.

Other witnesses allege that Brentano had tried to pick fights with passersby. Brentano had previously been indicted on charges of abuse of authority and causing physical injury, but was not convicted in either case. There are two further cases pending against him that are currently sub judice.

Coronel Claudete Lehmkahl of the military police, told the Guardian it was not unusual for officers on the front line to face multiple accusations, but “that being said, his past does matter and will most likely be added to this investigation”.

For many Brazilians, this reinforces the image of the military police as a brutal carry-over from the dictatorship era. Brazilian police have killed more than 11,000 people over the past five years, averaging about six killings a day – six times more than police in the US, according to the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, which last year accused police of making “abusive use of lethal force”.

Dos Santos’ Instagram and Facebook accounts contained a desperate appeal made by supporters in his last hours – “Friends, our warrior still needs blood of all types” with the address of the centre in Florianópolis where donations are made. Beside this, thousands of people posted condolence messages. “Rest in peace, shred in heaven,” wrote one. Many also demanded justice. “This worm must not go unpunished,” read one post. “A coward in a uniform interrupts the life of a young warrior”, noted another.

Adriano de Souza, a professional surfer and friend, said he hoped the killing could alert the population. “I hope that from now on, people will demand more justice and this will lead to a change of consciousness. It is increasingly difficult to live inBrazil.”