Brazil Bank Robbers Strap Hostages To Getaway Cars As Human Shields

Heavily armed gangsters strapped hostages to their getaway cars after robbing two banks in Brazil, during a rampage that left three people dead, police and reports said Monday.
Using explosives, drones and heavy weapons, the assailants took over downtown streets within the southeastern city of Aracatuba, home to some 200,000 people.

After robbing two banks, they made their escape by strapping hostages to the roofs and hoods of moving cars, consistent with shocking images broadcast by local news channels.

Two civilians and one among the bank robbers were killed during the assault, which left a minimum of six injured, consistent with police.

The assailants placed explosives in several parts of the town and surrounded some police stations to delay the arrival of reinforcements.

They wore “bulletproof vests, rifles and helmets,” and seemed like soldiers, a witness who asked to not be identified told Globo TV.

“The scenes of terror experienced by the population of Aracatuba won’t go unpunished,” vowed Sao Paulo governor Joao Doria, who ordered a task force of 380 cops to hunt the gang down.

“Two criminals were captured and a 3rd died when confronting the police,” he said.

Brazil has seen other such robberies in recent years, marked by a high degree of designing and heavy weapons, and administered in medium-sized cities to make sure an escape route and a big cash haul from the banks.

In December of last year, two similar mega-assaults were administered barely each day apart in cities within the states of Para, within the north, and Santa Catarina within the south.

A few months before, the Sao Paulo towns of Botucatu and Ourinhos suffered similar brazen attacks.

According to the Sao Paulo security , both cases were resolved and “a strength of those gangs are in jail.”