Alckmin offers R$ 50 for clues about massacre.

Daniel Mello - Reporter for Agência Brasil

The governor of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin, announced today (17) a reward of R$ 50 thousand for information that helps to elucidate the massacre that occurred in Greater São Paulo on the night of last Thursday (13), when 18 people were murdered, in a two-hour interval, in the municipalities of Osasco, Barueri and Itapevi.

To receive the reward, the informant must submit the information through the Web Denúncia system - http://www.webdenuncia.org.br/. The page operates 24 hours a day and guarantees the informant's anonymity. "The police are fully committed to clarifying and arresting the criminals. Anyone who has information and provides a lead that helps solve the crime or arrest the criminals will receive the reward," said the governor.

The offer is a step forward, according to the ombudsman for the São Paulo police, Julio Cesar Fernandes Neves: "For civil society, this is a very good thing. There is now the possibility of clarifying all of this."

Another important change in the state government's stance, in Neves' opinion, is that the possibility of the crime having been committed by military police officers is being openly addressed. "The government itself acknowledges the possibility that [the culprits] are military police officers. This is a sign that hope is growing that this curse in the state will end," he added.

According to the ombudsman, the evidence of police involvement is very strong. He stated that the video showing the masked assassins subduing people in a bar before executing them demonstrates the use of police tactics: "When they put those people with their hands against the wall, with their backs turned, that's what the Military Police do. It's containment." Neves also pointed out the way they handled their weapons and the organization to provide backup. "These guys are professionals and they follow standard procedure," he concluded.

According to the ombudsman, last week's action is very similar to the massacre that occurred in Campinas, in the interior of São Paulo state, in January 2014. Six police officers are being prosecuted for the 12 murders committed on that occasion. "The interesting thing about this massacre is that it is very clearly similar to the one in Campinas in January of last year. Because it began with the death of a police officer at a gas station," he commented. This time, a corporal in the Military Police was murdered on the 7th of this month in Osasco.

According to the ombudsman, the biggest difficulty in investigations like this is the lack of witnesses: "It's the population's fear of testifying. The fear of denouncing, of providing evidence. The investigator himself, the authority, needs material to accuse someone. And suddenly he has none."

Today, the Secretary of Public Security of São Paulo, Alexandre de Moraes, met with the directors of the State Department of Homicides and Protection of Persons to discuss the case. A Task Force has been assembled to investigate the deaths in conjunction with the Military Police Internal Affairs Department.