Military police officer foils robbery

BRAZIL - A gunman’s attempted robbery on young children and families was foiled by a waiting mother who turned out to be an offduty armed policewoman. Dramatic security footage shows a suspect named as Elivelton Neves Moreira, 21, approaching the crowd with a gun outside a private school in Sao Paulo. But his attempted crime backfired when military police officer Katia da Silva Sastre, 42, pulled out her own weapon and unleashed three shots. Security footage shows Moreira, who later died in hospital, falling backwards and clutching his chest before Sastre shoves him on to his front with her foot having thrown her handbag aside on Saturday morning. Officer Sastre is being hailed a hero for her act of bravery and was honored in a ceremony by Sao Paulo Governor Márcio França on Sunday. Although the suspect died later the same day in the hospital from his injuries, Officer Sastre is still being commended for her actions despite the ‘regrettable’ outcome. Governor França said: ‘I went earlier to the 4th BAEP in the east of Sao Paulo to honor a very special mother: Corporal Katia Sastre. Her courage and precision saved mothers and children, yesterday at the door of a school.’ As a thank you for her off-duty valor, the governor then presented her with a purple orchid plant at her police station, fittingly on Brazil’s Mother’s Day. Officer Sastre is a mother to two girls, aged seven and two. She has worked on the force for 20 years and is also married to a police lieutenant.

(Daily Mail)