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Brazilian surfer shot dead by off-duty police officer Brazilian surfer shot dead by off-duty police officer
(about 2 hours later)
A Brazilian professional surfer has died after being shot outside his beach home by an off-duty police officer. The global surfing community has reacted with shock following the fatal shooting of a promising young professional surfer outside his home in Brazil.
Ricardo dos Santos, known as a daring tuberider who had won international surfing awards, died in a hospital in southern Brazil. Ricardo dos Santos, 24, died in hospital on Tuesday, a day after being shot three times following an altercation with a military policeman at Guarda do Embau beach, near the southern city of Florianopolis. He underwent four operations to repair a perforated lung and kidney but died of his injuries.
Dos Santos, 24, had been shot three times in the abdomen on Monday in front of his home on the Guarda do Embaú beach, near Florianopolis. The circumstances of the shooting are disputed, but the Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that the surfer, who was known as “Ricardinho” in his native country, was shot after approaching two men leaning on a car outside his home and asking them not to take drugs in public. According to witnesses, the men drew a weapon from the car and shot Dos Santos three times in the chest and abdomen, the paper said.
Investigator Marcelo Arruda said on Tuesday that the officer who shot the unarmed surfer said he did so in self-defence. But other witnesses claim the officer, Luis Brentano, shot dos Santos after they got into an argument. A military policeman, Luiz Paulo Mota Brentano, was arrested after the shooting along with his 17-year-old brother, who was later released. According to O Globo, Brentano told officers he had acted in self-defence after being threatened by the surfer.
The suspect is in jail. Under Brazilian law, prosecutors only level charges once the police investigation is complete. “Our Ricardo is gone,” his family said shortly after he died. “He lived so much in his 24 years. It is a very hard time for us right now. We believe that there are better barrels where Ricardo is going and that he will be there getting barrels with Andy Irons [an American professional who died in 2010].
Gabriel Medina, the Brazilian world surfing champion and a friend of dos Santos, posted on Instagram. “We want to thank everyone for their support. Thank you all for the opportunities in his life and career. Ricardo was very grateful for everything and for everyone.”
“Ricardito, you did not deserve this... Why did this happen to a good person? I don’t understand,” Gabriel Medina, the Brazilian world surfing champion and a close friend of dos Santos, said on Instagram: “Ricardinho, you didn’t deserve this! Never! Why does this happen to good people? I don’t understand.”
He wrote that dos Santos was “always helping others, smiling from ear to ear every day ... God comfort his family”. He said the surfer, who was known for his fearless barrel-riding skills and won the coveted Andy Irons award for most committed performance at the Billabong Pro Tahiti event in 2012, was a “good person, always helping others, smiling from ear to ear every day, an example to others”.
American 11-time world champion Kelly Slater said a floating memorial ceremony took place for dos Santos on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Kelly Slater, the American 11-times world champion, said he had been “horrified” to see a floating memorial to the surfer, who he called “truly one of the great barrel riders of his short time”, noting that in 2012-13 Dos Santos had won Wave of the Winter “for a crazy barrel at Pipeline ... was a regular standout in any barreling or heavy conditions around the world.”
Dos Santos won the Andy Irons Award for Most Committed Performance at the event on the notorious Teahupo’o reef break, and was awarded the Wave Of The Winter in 2012-13 for a barrel he caught at Hawaii’s Pipeline. “This was truly a senseless loss of life … Our small community has lost another way too soon.”
Slater said it was “truly a senseless loss of life”. Californian Brett Simpson, twice winner of the US Open of Surfing, said on Twitter: “We will always remember him... So fearless in the water in heavy waves and so kind and gentle on land! Life is so precious!”
Australian surfers including six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore and three-time championship runner-up Sally Fitzgibbons also paid tribute to their fallen colleague. Will always remember him... So fearless in the water in heavy waves and so kind and gentle on land! Life is so so precious!
The South African former professional Travis Logie, Hawaiian Jamie O’Brien and Puerto Rican Brian Toth also posted condolences on social media. “A brother from another motherland,” said Toth. “May you rest in peace brother! You will never be forgotten.”
Billabong issued a statement remembering “a team rider and dear friend, and an inspiration to all who knew him.
“More importantly, Ricardo was a loving brother, son, friend, and grandson. When not traveling the globe in search of giant barrels, Ricardo spent time at home helping around the house and surfing with local groms [kids]. He was also a proud Brazilian who supported his local community. His stoke for his homeland could be felt even as he traveled the globe, telling stories of his time at home with close friends.
“While we mourn this tragedy, we must remember to celebrate and honor Ricardo’s incredible life, and hope it influences the next generation to live a life full of hard work, enthusiasm, and generosity.”
According to the surfing magazine Stabmag, Dos Santos had fought to clean up his local streets in the surf community of Guarda do Embau, saying its relaxed, hippie reputation was being threatened by a boom in the presence of violent street thugs:
“Today it seems that this piece of “heaven” is losing its charm, it seems that people no longer value the fact that they are in a beautiful and pure place … It is with an immense feeling of sadness that I write this, but Guarda is being destroyed.”
His family said that the surfer’s corneas would be donated after his death, and that his body will be cremated and the ashes scattered at his local beach of Guarda do Embau.