Brazil: Journalist shot to death in front of home

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Eduardo Carvalho, a Brazilian journalist and retired police officer, was shot three times in front of his home on Wednesday night by two gunmen on a motorcycle.

Carvalho, 52, who owned and edited website Ultima Hora News, had been receiving death threats since last year, reported EFE. He specialized in publishing stories critical of politicians and police in his home state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and his site often published stories based on information obtained from anonymous sources.

According to Brazilian news site G1, Carvalho's wife, who asked not to be named, told police they were returning home from a trip to the countryside when the shooting occurred. She was parking their vehicle in the garage while her husband was moving his motorcycle away from the sidewalk when she heard at least three bangs. Carvalho's wife found her husband on the ground and saw two men on a motorcycle nearby, the driver wearing a red helmet and the passenger a black one.

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Carvalho was shot three times: once in the stomach, once in the right hip and once below the right armpit. His wife said she grabbed Carvalho's gun and pointed it in the direction of the shooters, G1 also reported. She pulled the trigger, but the gun was not loaded. The shooters drove away.

Minutes later, the shooters returned to the scene to pick up the magazine that had held seven bullets that had fallen to the ground, reported Brazilian news site Estadão. Police said the killing appeared to be an execution.

Carvalho is the third journalist in Brazil to be shot to death execution-style this year.