Four Assailants Killed During Attempted Robbery in Brazil

SAO PAULO – Four suspects were killed Monday in a shootout with police officers during an attempted robbery in Brazil’s largest city of Sao Paulo, authorities said.

A group of as many as eight men was surprised by police as they prepared to detonate explosives to snatch automatic teller machines at a Banco do Brasil branch in the Jabarquara neighborhood, the municipal public safety office said.

The would-be robbers opened fire at the police and four suspects were killed in the exchange of shots.

The other suspects fled in three vehicles, police said.

There were no injuries among police officers, but an unidentified person was struck by one of the suspects’ vehicles and required hospitalization, media outlets said.

Police seized two rifles and three automatic pistols and the bomb squad removed and deactivated the explosives placed in the ATMs.

Using explosives to heist ATMs has become common in Sao Paulo in recent years.