Sao Paulo: Police shoot teen during rival football hooligans clashes
About 30 people died in soccer violence in Brazil in 2013, reports say
SAO PAULO (AFP) - Police shot and killed a teenager when clashes erupted between rival football hooligans near Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil, officials said Tuesday.
The two groups fought late Sunday after a Rio Grande state championship game between local clubs Novo Hamburgo and Aimore.
The confrontation had been arranged on social media and started in a metro station, before spilling onto the street, when police arrived.
The 16-year-old victim belonged to a group of hooligans called the "Paranoia des Novo Hamburgo," and witnesses told the O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper that they heard 10 or so shots ring out as police tried to disperse the warring fans.
"The police version is that an officer fired in legitimate self-defense," police chief Vinicius Do Valle told AFP, adding that the case was under investigation.
About 30 people died in soccer violence in Brazil in 2013, reports say.
