Firearms and knives involved in so far unexplained incident
A Chinese man in his 40s died earlier this week during an incident involving fellow countrymen in Vila do Conde.
Correio da Manhã describes the incident which other media sources have covered, but more ‘discreetly’. (The media may have been guided to gloss over nationalities while immigration has become a political hot potato: certainly no other news source mentions the word ‘Chinese’.)
But according to CM, all parties in this incident involving firearms and knives were Chinese.
Four men, two armed with guns, approached two others, reportedly armed with knives, close to a ‘residential complex’ in an habitually ‘very quiet neighbourhood’.
The two armed men are understood to have let off “at least four shots”, two of which hit the man in his 40s in the chest.
The man fell where he had been shot. When first responders arrived, his body reportedly also showed signs of having been stabbed after the fatal gunshots.
“The crime was filmed”, says the paper, adding that the film is now in the possession of investigators.
The other Chinese man armed with a knife was also shot – in the stomach – but survived.
CM says he too was knifed before authorities arrived at the scene.
He was transported “in a serious condition” to Hospital de Pedro Hispano, in Matosinhos.
It is not clear from CM’s report at which point PJ police arrested the four alleged attackers – but they have been arrested, and thus the ‘film’ of the incident ended up in authorities’ possession.
For now, says CM, the reasons for this crime are not known. All that seems clear is that the man who died lived in the street where he was shot, on Tuesday night: Rua nº 41, in Ávore, Vila do Conde.
A resident who clearly did not wish to be named told CM that the area is “a very quiet neighbourhood”.
He added that on the night of the shooting: “Almost no-one went to the window to see what was happening, out of fear”.
Other reports have added a bit more detail to this drama: the four arrested by the PJ were detained after seeking assistance at another hospital (Póvoa de Varzim) for injuries some of them had sustained “from a weapon”.
Writer’s note: A quick internet search shows that Vila do Conde has the largest Chinese community in Portugal, and its own area known by locals as Chinatown.
Vila do Conde is also the place where one of the ‘illegal police stations’ allegedly run by Chinese authorities is understood to have been located (possibly still is located… the media focus on this subject, certainly in Portugal, has dimmed somewhat).
Since posting this story, other news sources have started mentioning the Chinese angle, suggesting the ‘shoot-out’ followed a meeting of Chinese businessmen “that ended badly”.
natasha.donn@portugalresident.com
