This homeless man in Brazil braved a gunman to set a hostage free about a month ago and is now being praised as a local hero in his country. The heroic, yet tragic end to the hostage situation was captured by local televisions stations.
Be warned the contents of this video are graphic.
The 61-year old homeless man identified as Francisco Erasmo Rodrigues de Lima was shot and killed around 2 p.m. outside of Sao Paulo Cathedral when he ran over to a man holding a woman hostage at gunpoint. Luiz Antonio da Silva had taken the woman hostage for over an hour on the church steps, reports Yahoo News.
The woman is pushed to the floor by da Silva and is visibly bleeding on her face. De Lima is seen in the video rushing over to the pair and tackling the da Silva. The woman is able to break free and rush towards the authorities. However, de Lima is shot at point blank range. Police then shoot the gunman while de Lima is seen in the background, bleeding and then slumping over, against the cathedral doors.
"An armed criminal targeted a victim and announced a hold-up," stated the local police according to Metro UK. "A passerby saw what was happening and on intervening, was injured by shots fired by the criminal. The passer-by died at the scene. The victim, who was also injured, was helped by local police at the scene where she received medical attention."
The woman was later identified as Elenilza Mariana de Oliveira. She was reportedly dragged into the church earlier where she prayed with da Silva for 20 minutes before being held at gunpoint outside. Yahoo reports the woman was initially to hostage after da Silva failed to rob the woman.
A priest from the cathedral also released a statement. He said, "in the cathedral, we pray in for those who have lost their lives in daily tragedies and violence" and ask everyone to "ask God to restore peace in our city and for scenes/incidents like that to not happen again."
Since the shooting images have circled of de Lima's limp body with angel wings attached along with sweet sayings. Photos of the graphic images can be accessed here.