Dozens of passengers were held hostage on the bus for over three hours.
Military police in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, have shot and killed a man who hijacked a commuter bus in the city and took 31 people hostage in the process.
Following a tense standoff on Tuesday morning - approximately 9.30am Irish time - Brazilian police "neutralised" the hijacker after surrounding the bus on a bridge that links Rio to the city of Niterói.
A tweet issued by military police confirms that a sniper shot the man and that no hostages were harmed during the incident.
At least six hostages had been freed by the attacker prior to his death.
"The PMERJ [Miltary Police of Rio de Janeiro State] informs that the occurrence with hostages was terminated at Ponte Rio-Niterói," begins the statement.
"The hostage taker was neutralised by a sniper of the BOPE [Tactical Unit of Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State] and all the hostages were released unharmed."
https://twitter.com/PMERJ/status/1163787294228328448
According to
BBC News, military police spokesperson Col. Mauro Fleiss explained that the sniper opened fire when the hijacker appeared at the door of the bus, appearing to point a weapon at the head of one of the hostages.
Fleiss added that the weapon in question turned out to be a toy gun.
"This is the police force we want to see," said Fleiss.
"The sniper shot was necessary to neutralise the outlaw and to save the people on the bus."
