Courtroom Erupts in Chaos As Shots Ring Out

(WatchDogReport.org) – A courtroom in São José do Belmonte, Brazil, recently exploded into a chaotic scene after a vengeful son shot and pistol-whipped his father’s alleged killer.

Cristiano Alves Terto, 27, was captured in video footage storming into the courtroom during a jury session relating to his father’s murder. He fired a .38-caliber revolver six times at Francisco Cleidivaldo Mariano De Moura, 38.

Police pursued Terto after he fled the scene and arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder. The incident occurred on November 29, 2023, but the video of the attack was only released publicly on April 1. Terto has been in prison since he was apprehended the day after the shooting.

Court staff and jurors scattered across the courtroom as Terto fired several shots from point-blank range at De Moura. The accused killer attempted to find cover behind a desk before Terto, having fired all six bullets, hit him twice in the head with the revolver. De Moura was sent to a local hospital before being moved to a larger facility in Serra Talhada.

De Moura is accused of shooting Terto’s father, Francisco Alves, on October 5, 2012. De Moura claimed he was searching for a donkey that wandered from his property in Lagoa Alexandre. According to De Moura, Alves accused him of being a thief when he asked about the donkey’s whereabouts, and a heated argument ensued. Aives reportedly approached De Moura with a stick to attempt to scare him off, prompting the suspect to fire three shots from his gun, the third of which hit Alves in the abdomen. He died in a hospital in Arcoverde 18 days after the shooting. De Moura fled to Salgueiro, where he was apprehended.

Terto was sent to prison on remand on November 30. De Moura, however, has been discharged. There were conflicting reports of the courtroom shooting, with some stating that all the shots missed De Moura and others saying that he was hit by at least some of the bullets fired. The Pernambuco Court of Justice released a statement regarding De Moura’s trial, saying that a new retrial date has yet to be assigned.