Brazil police sniper nearly shot officer in stadium during World Cup opening
SAO PAULO – Brazilian officials say a police sniper almost opened fire against an armed man seen approaching President Dilma Rousseff and other officials as they watched the opening game of the World Cup soccer tournament.
The Sao Paulo state security secretariat confirmed the incident Friday and said in a statement “there was a communications error that was quickly fixed.” It did not reveal further details.
The Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that first reported the story said the sniper saw an armed man approaching Rousseff, FIFA president Sepp Blatter and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and requested permission to shoot him.
He was told to hold off and minutes later the suspect was identified as a police officer who was said to be investigating a suspected bomb threat.
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