An argument in downtown Curitiba (capital/largest city of Paraná, southern Brazil), which may have been motivated by racism, ended with Sérgio Luiz Prates Chaves Jr., 31, being shot. Around 9pm, he arrived at the boarding house where he has lived for three months, since he arrived from Porto Alegre (capital of southern state Rio Grande do Sul), located on Rua Viscount do Rio Branco (street), near the corner of Rua Princesa Isabel (street), near the SESC Theater. By his own account, he stopped to look at a motorcycle that was parked in front of the building and that moment heard some verbal attacks against him.
Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil
Sérgio said that a man, appearing to be over 50 years old, wearing a black jacket and dress pants, addressed him with racist words. “He called him black and said I was looking at the motorcycle because I wanted to steal it. He was visibly drunk. When I said that I only didn’t beat him up because he was an old man, he pulled out a .22 caliber revolver and shot me twice,” described the victim. One of the shots struck him in the shoulder, but was stopped by his backpack strap, the other hit him in the right buttocks.
City of Curitiba
Limping down the street, Sérgio awaited the arrival of firefighters and police. After receiving medical attention on the spot, he was sent to the Hospital Evangélico (Evangelical Hospital), without any risk of death. Before this, however, he told police officers that the gunman ran into another boarding room, on the same street. The Military Police went to the area where the shooter had supposedly hidden but no one was arrested.
Source: Paraná Online
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