A Brazilian police sniper “neutralized” an armed man who held dozens of people hostage on a bus in Rio de Janeiro after a four-hour standoff.

The hostage-taker, armed with a gun and a knife, exited the passenger bus and was immediately surrounded by police, according to Brazilian TV. Police now say the hostage-taker has been shot dead by officers and that his gun was a toy.

A man is holding dozens of people hostage on a bus in Rio de Janeiro, and is threatening to set it alight

Read more here: https://t.co/DA0E1pgDZs pic.twitter.com/XdyFl0Y63x

— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 20, 2019

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UPDATE: Police now say the hostage taker has been shot dead by officers – and that his gun was a toy.

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“The kidnapper left the bus, pointing a gun at a hostage’s head. 3 shots were heard and police officers were seen celebrating. The kidnapper was shot and fell beside the bus”. pic.twitter.com/UhwDPjjuHP

— Tom Kavanagh (@_TomKavanagh) August 20, 2019

Bloomberg:

Rio De Janeiro (AP) — An armed man holding dozens of people hostage on a public bus Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro and threatening to set the vehicle on fire was seized by police after a four-hour long standoff, Brazilian police said.

The man armed with a gun and a knife took 37 people hostage around 5:30 a.m. on a busy bridge linking the suburb of Sao Gonçalo to downtown Rio de Janeiro, before being controlled by police forces. It was immediately unclear if he had been shot.

Six hostages were released in the first few hours and police said they told authorities the man had spilled gasoline in the bus and threatened to set it on fire. Officials said the man had identified himself as a policeman but that they were not able to confirm this information.

Hans Moreno, one of the hostages onboard, said on TV Globo the man was not behaving in an aggressive way and was “very calm.”

The man had not made any particular demands and appeared to have “psychological problems,” a spokesperson for the traffic police said on TV Globo. More

Authorities said the man had not made any particular demands and appeared to have “psychological problems.”

Well done, now that’s how you negotiate with someone threatening to kill 37 people.

Rio De Janeiro is extremely dangerous. Also, they have very strict gun control laws. But the funny thing though that the criminals still have firearms.