
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 27, 1993                   TAG: 9307270082
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL                                LENGTH: Short

POLICEMEN HELD IN SLAYING OF 7 CHILDREN

Three state policemen have been detained as suspects in the massacre of seven homeless boys who were shot to death as they slept on dirty blankets and cardboard in the shadow of the downtown Candelaria Cathedral.

The boys, who ranged in age from about 8 to 15, died before dawn on Friday. Brazilians were outraged by the killings, and human rights activists planned a demonstration to demand punishment for the killers.

President Itamar Franco called a meeting with Rio de Janeiro state Gov. Leonel Brizola to find a way to get 3,000 children off the city's streets.

Brazil has an estimated 7 million street children who live shoeless, homeless and unclaimed by family members.

Survivors of the massacre identified the three policemen Sunday and the officers were detained, police spokesman Abilio Pinto said Monday. The suspects, whose names weren't released, denied involvement.

However, one man who was wounded in the attack said he had no doubt that the policemen he identified were among the killers.

"I'll never forget it if I live 100 years," Vagner dos Santos, 22, said.

Dos Santos was taken to police headquarters in a wheelchair for the identification Sunday. A bullet was lodged between his skull and spinal column.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB