RIP Ricardo dos Santos

[billie_morini]

Top surfer shot dead outside his home in Brazil after 'row with off-duty police officer'

- Ricardo dos Santos died on Tuesday after being rushed to hospital
- The 24-year-old was shot three times in the chest and stomach
- An off-duty police officer was last night in custody on suspicion of murder
- Surfing world paying tribute to dos Santos on Twitter and Facebook
- World number four Kelly Slater says it is a 'truly senseless loss of life'

A top surfer has died after being shot outside his family home in Brazil during a row with an off-duty police and his younger brother. Ricardo dos Santos, 24, lost his fight for life on Tuesday afternoon, having reportedly been shot three times in the chest and stomach during the argument earlier on Monday morning. A police officer was last night being held in custody on suspicion of his murder.

Ricardo dos Santos died on Tuesday after being shot three times outside his home in southern Brazil. According to one local report, the internationally-acclaimed surfer, who beat 11-times world champion Kelly Slater to win the 2012 Billabong Pro Tahiti Trials, is said to have found two people outside his home taking drugs. The report said dos Santo asked the men - later revealed to be a 25-year-old off-duty police officer and his 17-year-old brother - to move on, and an argument ensued. But a different report claimed one of the men had parked his car on top of a pipe that formed part of an extension Ricardo's family were building to their home, near Palhoca, Santa Catarina, southern Brazil.

Police said they were investigating both claims, and the officer under arrest is said to be alleging he used his weapon in self-defence after being attacked first. Police chief Marcelo Arrudo said: 'We're looking at two very conflicting versions of events, one that involves self-defence and another that involves unjustified violence when there was no type of prior aggression that would explain those gunshots.
'We are in the process of organising a reconstruction as soon as possible so we can try to clarify what's happened.'

dos Santos was described by former world number one Kelly Slater as 'truly one of the great barrel riders of his short time'
His death has sent shock-waves around the surfing community, with fans and fellow pro-surfers expressing their condolences.
Former world number one Slater took to Instagram to pay tribute to 'truly one of the great barrel riders of his short time'.
'This was truly a senseless loss of life,' he continued. 'Condolences to Ricardo's friends and family around the world. Our small community has lost another way too soon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ficer.html

[oldmansurfer]

Sad news but I feel like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop or more to come from this tragic fiasco.