The Military Police opened an internal procedure to investigate the circumstances of the death of a 61-year-old woman during a confrontation between military police and criminals on Estrada das Pedrinhas, in Belford Roxo, Baixada Fluminense. Dirlene Corrêa de Olivetti was hit by three shots, one in the head, one in the stomach and one in the leg. The elderly woman’s daughter accuses the police of denying help to the victim. Three hours earlier, in Nova Iguaçu, a neighboring municipality, another shooting, this time between criminals, also left two victims. A 5-year-old child, shot in the face, and a 14-year-old teenager, shot in the head. Both were returning from school when they were hit.
Dirlene was on the corner of her house, sitting on the sidewalk, as usual, when military police officers from the 39th BPM (Belford Roxo) arrived at the scene and exchanged shots with the criminals. The shooting happened around 3pm on Wednesday. The elderly woman’s daughter, Adelaide Marques, claims that her mother was left agonizing on the street until a neighbor came to help her. It was this neighbor who put her in a Kombi and took her to the Bom Pastror Emergency Care Unit. But the elderly woman arrived dead at the unit. The PM confirmed that the injured woman was rescued by members of the public. In a statement, the corporation also said that it had initiated an internal procedure to investigate the facts and that it is contributing to the Civil Police investigations.
The elderly woman maintained an informal business in her backyard, where she used to sell food, drinks and kites. According to her daughter, Dirlene had the habit of meeting with neighbors every afternoon to talk.
Elderly woman killed by stray bullet had business outside her home
— She used to stay there and chat with the neighbors. When the shots were fired, my mother ran and tried to get into the house, but she didn’t have time. She was lying on the ground and the police said she had to wait for Samu (Mobile Emergency Care Service). Until a neighbor who has a Kombi arrived and took her to the UPA — reports the daughter.
Dirlene had lived in the region for over 30 years and it was there that she raised her only daughter.
— My mother was a simple, illiterate woman. But full of life and joy. She didn’t deserve to die like that — Adelaide lamented.
Dirlene’s body will be buried this Friday afternoon, in the municipal cemetery of Belford Roxo. She leaves her only daughter aged 29, a granddaughter aged 1 and a grandson aged 6.
