A woman in her 70s was held hostage for about 1.5 hours by a man armed with a knife at the Parque Estadual Library, on Avenida Presidente Vargas, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. The man entered the library claiming to be a writer. Then he took hostage the lady who was a regular visitor to the place.
Negotiators from the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) went to the site and began negotiations. The military used a non-lethal pistol (teaser) to immobilize the criminal suspect. The hostage was released unharmed.
In a note, the Secretary of Culture and Creative Economy of the State, responsible for the library, reported that “after about an hour and thirty minutes of negotiations (between 5:00 pm and 6:30 pm), the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro and the Special Operations Battalion (Bope) rescued the woman who was being held hostage at the State Park Library”.
The note also says that “during the negotiations, the entire building was isolated and the employees removed from the site. The victim was not injured, but was taken to Souza Aguiar Municipal Hospital and will be under observation. The case will be registered at the 4th Civil Police Station, in the Center.
During this period of negotiations, the side lane of Avenida Presidente Vargas towards Candelária was closed so that the security forces could act.
Historic
The library founded by D. Pedro II in 1873 and later known as the Public Library of the State of Rio de Janeiro. It was completely modernized and renovated in a work that lasted four years, being reopened as the State Park Library in March 2014. The place has 15 thousand square meters and a collection of more than 200 thousand items.
