Ronickson Pimentel remains in intensive care after São Paulo ambush

First‑lieutenant Ronickson Pimentel dos Santos, brother of the late teenager Eloá Pimentel, was shot in the head on 27 June 2026 while stopped at a traffic light on Avenida Goiás in São Caetano do Sul, part of the ABC region of São Paulo. He was air‑lifted by the police’s Águia helicopter and underwent emergency neurosurgery. He is now in a critical but stable condition in the intensive care unit of Hospital Estadual Mário Covas in Santo André, where doctors are evaluating a possible reduction of his sedation following improved brain‑edema scans.

Police investigations have linked two suspects, arrested in the eastern zone of São Paulo, to logistical support for the ambush, and have identified a vehicle with Taubaté licence plates used to aid the attackers. The motive remains under inquiry, but authorities describe the act as a premeditated attempt at homicide. The case has revived public attention to the 2008 kidnapping and murder of Eloá Pimentel, after which Ronickson entered the Military Police, a fact his wife highlighted in a recent social‑media post.

The ongoing probe involves the Police Civil’s task force, which is analyzing surveillance footage, recovered equipment and the cloned‑plate motorcycle used by the gunmen. No further arrests have been reported.