The bodies of two drug dealers suspected of accidentally murdering three orthopedic surgeons and wounding another at a hotel bar in Brazil were found in two separate vehicles on Thursday evening.
Rio de Janeiro police identified the two suspects as Phillip “Lesk” Motta and Ryan Nunes.
They also discovered the bodies of two other dealers in a separate car. They were not related to the shooting.
Authorities are still searching for two other suspects, Bruno Pinto and Juan Malta, for their involvement in the shooting that took place before 1 a.m. Thursday outside the Windsor Hotel in Rio de Janeiro’s Barra da Tijuca district.
Dr. Marcos de Andrade, 63, Dr. Diego Bomfim, 35, Dr. Perseu Ribeiro, 33 and Dr. Daniel Sonnewend, 32, were waiting to pay their bill when the gunmen drove up in an SUV and opened fire.
De Andrade, Bomfim and Ribeiro were killed and Sonnewend survived after being shot 14 times. He is recovering at an area hospital after a 10-hour operation.
He posted a video on social media on Friday morning and said: “Guys, I’m fine, you understand?” Everything is fine, thank God. Just a few breaks, but everything will be fine. We will get out of this together. Thanks for your interest. Thank you very much!’
Investigators believe the four men were executed because they mistook Ribeiro for Taillon da Alcântara – a member of a militia in Rio de Janeiro.
Phillip “Lesk” Motta (left) and Ryan Nunes (right) are two of the four drug dealers suspected by Rio de Janeiro police in an attack in which they mistook one of the slain doctors for the slain doctor, three surgeons for killing and injuring another member of a militia they were trying to murder
Dr. Marcos de Andrade (left), Dr. Diego Bomfim (second from left), Dr. Daniel Sonnewend (second from right) and Dr. Perseu Ribeiro (right) took a group photo shortly before gunmen opened fire on them in a bar outside the Windsor Hotel in the Barra da Tijuca district of Rio de Janeiro. Dr. Sonnenwend is the only doctor who survived
The drug dealers reportedly received a call indicating that their murder target, militia member Taillon de Alcântara (pictured), was in a hotel bar in Rio de Janeiro. However, the attackers executed three surgeons and wounded another. One of the deceased doctors resembled de Alcântara
Globo TV A civilian police task force that fights militias and drug trafficking groups intercepted a telephone conversation shortly before the shooting in which Malta told the gunmen that Alcântara was at the bar.
The drug gang was looking for da Alcântara because he was allegedly involved in the murder of a Motta associate on September 16.
Da Alcântara was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison for criminal association in July 2021, but was placed under house arrest in March and released on parole on September 29.
A hotel surveillance camera captured the moment the suspects jumped out of a white Fiat Pulse and fired about 30 shots in about 20 seconds.
A bar patron runs away from the hotel bar in Rio de Janeiro where gunmen executed three orthopedic surgeons and wounded a fourth on Thursday
Dr. Perseu Ribeiro, one of the three doctors murdered in a hotel bar in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, had just turned 33 two days earlier
Dr. Diego Bomfim (pictured), one of the three doctors shot, is the brother of Congresswoman Sâmia Bomfim from São Paulo
Dr. Marcos de Andrade died at the scene after being shot by gunmen in a bar outside a hotel in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. The surgeon, one of three killed, was 63 years old
Da Alcântara’s house is on the same avenue as the Windsor Hotel and the bar was frequented.
His father, Dalmir Alcântara, is the leader of the militia, which has operated in western Rio de Janeiro for about 30 years and has a long-standing feud with the network to which the drug dealers belonged.
The surgeons were in Rio de Janeiro to attend the 6th International Conference on Minimally Invasive Foot and Ankle Surgery, which began Thursday.
They had taken a selfie shortly before the barbaric shooting and shared it on social media.
Authorities initially investigated whether there was a political motivation for the shooting, as Bomfim’s sister, Sâmia Bomfim, is a congresswoman in Sâo Paulo state. Her husband Glauber Braga is a congressman from Rio de Janeiro.
“We, the family, will request, through our lawyers, access to the investigative data to the extent that the law allows us, so that we have access to the information and can closely monitor all investigative lines and capabilities of the Rio de Janeiro Civil Authority “Police” , Congresswoman Bomfim told G1.