The Civil Police are investigating the death of the Municipal Civil Guard of Mogi das Cruzes, Nelson Caetano de Lima Neto, 37, shot dead on Wednesday evening (24) in a residence in Arujá. The main suspect is Arujá Civil Guard Uelton de Souza Almeida, 40, who held the position of deputy secretary for Public Security of the municipality. The two cities of Greater São Paulo are neighbors.
According to the Arujá City Hall, Almeida was dismissed from his position on Thursday (25). He was also dismissed from his municipal guard duties. The municipality said it was assisting the investigation. Almeida is a licensed counselor of Arujá through União Brasil.
The opinion of the Arujá City Council was requested, but no position was obtained until the publication of this report.
Almeida fled and was not found until Friday afternoon.
Neto was shot dead in the residence where Almeida and his ex-wife, also a municipal civil guard, live. According to the police report, the former couple had been separated for about five years, but they still shared the property: she lived on the lower part and he on the upper part.
The police document does not specify the reason for Neto’s presence at the scene, but to TV Diário, a subsidiary of TV Globo, the victim’s father confirmed that his son and the municipal guard had a romantic relationship.
According to police records, the municipal civil guards of Arujá were organizing a barbecue on Christmas Eve when Almeida called one of the officers.
Five minutes later, Almeida allegedly made new contact reporting an attempted break-in at his home and asked the team to go to the address to preserve the premises.
The guards left the barbecue and went to the property, where they found Almeida’s ex-wife. According to the officers’ report, she was crying and shaken and said Almeida shot Neto.
The witness said the shooting occurred in the kitchen, near the door to his part of the residence, and that there was no argument before the shots, which were fired suddenly.
Neto, who was armed with a 9mm pistol, died instantly. Almeida’s ex-wife had the working weapon seized. Civil police officers searched for the license plates of vehicles registered in Almeida’s name, but he was not found.
According to information from the City Council, Almeida was approved for the Arujá Civil Guard competition in 2008 and rose to the position of deputy commander. He was elected councilor in 2020 and re-elected in 2024 with 1,891 votes. Earlier this year, Almeida ended his term by being named deputy secretary of Public Safety.
About The Author
