Eight-time jiu-jitsu world champion Leandro Lo was shot in a nightclub in São Paulo after an altercation with another guest and was declared brain dead in the hospital. The alleged perpetrator was able to escape but later turned himself in to the police. A judge issued an arrest warrant against the 30-year-old military policeman, which was initially valid for 30 days.
"Lo was one of the greatest athletes our sport has ever produced," the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation said in recognition of the 33-year-old. "An exemplary athlete, a true black belt and martial artist, and a champion on and off the mat."
Lo was with friends attending the performance of a popular music group at the exclusive Sirio club in southern São Paulo when the argument broke out early on Sunday morning. According to witnesses, the alleged perpetrator took a bottle from the table where Lo was sitting with four friends. "Leandro asked him to put the bottle back because it didn't belong to him," the Brazilian website "Globo" quotes one of the martial artist's companions as saying. The man then put the bottle down and started arguing with Lo. He brought the troublemaker to the ground and fixed him.
When Lo released the man and everyone thought the argument was over, the 30-year-old pulled out a gun and fired at the martial artist, the friend reported. "He took four steps back, pulled a pistol from his waistband and shot him in the head at point-blank range."
A doctor who was present at the event immediately provided first aid and carried out resuscitation measures on the way to the hospital, the newspaper writes. There, the doctors had found the athlete's brain dead, as his family had confirmed.
Leandro Pereira do Nascimento Lo, as his full name was, was an eight-time Jiu-Jitsu World Champion in five different categories and won the World Cup five times and eight Pan-American martial arts titles. The 33-year-old, who claimed his first world lightweight title in 2012, was still active and became the world middle-heavyweight champion in May this year. "The first title felt like I was going to be a world champion and this last one felt like I was still a world champion, the two best feelings of my life," Lo wrote on social media.
The Brazilian was due to compete in a championship in the United States in the coming days.
Sources: Globo, Marca, BBC
