A US Army veteran turned gang member turned music producer was shot dead by “former rivals” in a hail of bullets while filming a music video.
David Beckhauser Santos Herold, 34, was reportedly shot 32 times in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Beckhauser Santos Herold was a former US Army soldier who served from 2008 to 2013 and saw action in Afghanistan during this time.
Known as ‘El Americano’, he later turned to a life of crime and was involved in a gang dispute.
He had previously been sentenced to 16 years in prison for the death of drug trafficker Thiago Polucena de Oliveira, on March 26, 2014, during a battle for control of drug distribution territory.
David Beckhauser Santos Herold, 34, was shot 32 times in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Beckhauser Santos Herold was a former US Army soldier who served from 2008 to 2013 and saw action in Afghanistan during this time.
Known as ‘El Americano’, he later turned to a life of crime and was involved in a gang dispute. He had previously been sentenced to 16 years in prison for the death of drug trafficker Thiago Polucena de Oliveira, on March 26, 2014.
As of October 2023, he was serving the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
Local media reported that he was shot dead by rivals while recording a video for singer Bernardo Soares da Rosa, 20, known as ‘Boladin 211’ in the northern part of Sao Paulo on Wednesday night.
Gunmen reportedly arrived and fired 60 shots at the US military, with 32 of the bullets hitting him.
The victim’s conviction for manslaughter in an earlier factional war with rival gangs meant he was still wanted by police, local media reported.
After the fatal shooting, he was rushed to the hospital but did not survive.
Investigators believe he was murdered as a result of the ongoing feud between criminal factions. Local media reports say Beckhauser Santos Herold was affiliated with a faction in Santa Catarina, a state in southern Brazil, where he was born and lived after returning from the United States.
The investigation into the fatal shooting is ongoing.