Two men who lost a game of pool for money opened fire in a bar in Sinop, Mato Grosso, Brazil, killing seven people and leaving another injured. Officials confirmed the death of one suspect during a police pursuit on Wednesday. The violent incident took place Tuesday night at a local bar in the municipality of Sinop, which sits north of Mato Grosso near the border with Pará and roughly 480 kilometers from Cuiabá, the regional capital. The event stands as one of the most brutal acts in the area in recent memory, drawing broad attention from residents and authorities alike as they work to determine motive and secure the community.
Witnesses told investigators that the dispute began when the two men, after losing a monetary pool game, were ridiculed by the winners. In the minutes that followed, the defendants left the premises but returned with firearms and started firing indiscriminately at patrons. The attack struck indiscriminately and tragically affected people of various ages, including a child under twelve years old who was among those killed. The fallout sent fear rippling through the town as families tried to understand how a routine evening could turn so deadly. Police and emergency responders arrived quickly, but the scale of the violence created an urgent search for survivors and a rapid assessment of the bar’s security and crowd control measures on that busy night.
Law enforcement quickly identified the suspects through security footage captured on site. In the early afternoon of Wednesday, one of the attackers, 27-year-old Ezequias de Souza Ribeiro, engaged in a confrontation with officers during a pursuit in a rural area near Sinop’s airport. An official update from the Mato Grosso Public Security Secretariat stated that Ribeiro was injured in the gunfight, transported to a hospital in Sinop, and pronounced dead there. The second attacker, Edgar Ricardo de Oliveira, was captured by judicial authorities and remains in custody after his arrest, with prosecutors continuing to build the case against him. The quick identification and subsequent actions by police were seen as a decisive step in stabilizing the situation and advancing the investigation.
Authorities indicated that law enforcement recovered the perpetrators’ van and one of the firearms used during the attack in a location away from the scene on Wednesday, underscoring the thoroughness of the on-site and follow-up investigations. Civil Police officials described the incident as an extreme breach of public safety that disrupted a local community and raised questions about security protocols at venues that host gaming or betting activities. Investigators are reviewing surveillance records, speaking with witnesses, and examining the bar’s entry procedures to better understand how the threat emerged and whether additional individuals were involved. As the investigation unfolds, families, community leaders, and public safety officials are coordinating efforts to provide support to affected residents and to reinforce measures that prevent similar tragedies in the future.