The Polícia Judiciária of Lisbon has arrested two men suspected of shooting dead a 43-year-old man and wounding his son in revenge for court testimony.
Police said the two victims had acted as witnesses in the trial of a friend of the suspects, who was convicted of shooting two people at Carcavelos beach in Cascais.
The initial beach shooting occurred on June 29 of last year during an argument involving workers at a Carcavelos beach restaurant. A 21-year-old man opened fire with a handgun, injuring a restaurant employee and a customer before fleeing the scene.
The attacker was later arrested by the Judicial Police and placed in pre-trial detention. Courts subsequently convicted the 21-year-old of attempted aggravated homicide and illegal firearm possession, sentencing him to three and a half years in prison, suspended. He remains free and had no direct involvement in the latest crimes under investigation.
Earlier this year, two friends of the convicted shooter decided to take revenge against witnesses who contributed to his conviction. On April 4, a gunman targeted the young witness in the Amadora area, shooting him in the stomach and leaving him hospitalized.
On May 21, the victim's 43-year-old father encountered his son's attacker in the Amadora area. The gunman shot the father three times, and the victim died after being taken to the hospital.
Witness revenge attacks and arrests
Detectives from the Judicial Police arrested the suspect in the April shooting on Tuesday. He is currently held in prison following his arrest.
Officers also arrested the gunman responsible for the fatal shooting of the father. He has been placed in pre-trial detention while investigations continue.
A police source told Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã that both arrested men are considered highly dangerous criminals. According to police, both suspects already possess police records for serious offenses that remain under investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Judicial Police.
Unrecovered weapon from Carcavelos shooting
Investigating officers confirmed that the firearm used in the original Carcavelos beach shooting was never recovered. The 21-year-old gunman escaped the beach site with the weapon on June 29 of last year, and search efforts by the Judicial Police failed to trace it.
The Polícia Judiciária serves as Portugal's national criminal investigation agency, handling complex cases involving violent crime, illegal weapons, and judicial interference. The municipality of Amadora and the coastal town of Cascais both sit within the Greater Lisbon metropolitan area.
