R.I.P. RICARDO DOS SANTOS (1990-2015) Brazilian pro surfer murdered by off-duty policeman near his home

Published: January 20, 2015

January 20, 2015 Views: 14,133







R.I.P. RICARDO DOS SANTOS (1990-2015) Brazilian pro surfer Ricardo Dos Santos murdered by off-duty policeman near his home.





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Related Rest In Peace, Ricardo Dos Santos (1990-2015). Photo: Henrique Pinguim

Ricardo Dos Santos's Wave of the Winter-winning tuberide from the Banzai Pipeline, 2012. Photo: Joli; video: Marc Beaty/Graham Nash

A spontaneous memorial paddle-out for Ricardo commenced this morning on the North Shore of Oahu, one of the Brazilian's favorite haunts. Photo: Bidu



Exactly a month ago, Brazil was experiencing the highest of high notes their country had ever reached in the sport of surfing





Born on May 23rd, 1990, Ricardo burst onto the international scene as a courageous young goofyfoot from Guarda do Embaú who topped a talented, experienced field to win the 2012 Billabong Pro Tahiti Trials before beating Jordy Smith, Taj Burrow and Kelly Slater in the main event, which earned him the coveted Andy Irons Award for Most Committed Performance. That same year, he won the



Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to Ricardo's friends and family, and the entire Brazilian surfing community, for this terrible, senseless tragedy that stole a brilliant young man who was well on his way to becoming one of the greatest Brazilian surfers and most fearless tuberiding heroes of all time.







Other reports started surfacing that Ricardo was shot at approximately 8:50am while making home improvements with his grandfather and two workers. They alleged that a car arrived, parked over a pipe that was being used in the project, and when Dos Santos asked them to move, they responded with gunfire. According to the report, local authorities believe the suspects were off-duty policemen from Joinville. Dos Santos was still conscious when he was transported to Hospital Sao Jose after the attack. According to Allain, Ricardo underwent three surgeries yesterday, losing a lot of blood before being transported to ICU to prepare him for more surgeries needed to repair one perforated lung and a kidney. While he fought for his life, the entire surfing world it seemed rallied behind Ricardo on social media conduits everywhere, expressing their anger, sadness, confusion and disgust, but mostly, their unyielding support, while others donated blood (some 100 bags). Meanwhile, police have apprehended two suspects in connection with the shooting: a 25-year-old off-duty cop (possibly military) and his 17-year-old brother. Apparently, the older brother was the one who fired at and ultimately killed Ricardo.Born on May 23rd, 1990, Ricardo burst onto the international scene as a courageous young goofyfoot from Guarda do Embaú who topped a talented, experienced field to win the 2012 Billabong Pro Tahiti Trials before beating Jordy Smith, Taj Burrow and Kelly Slater in the main event, which earned him the coveted Andy Irons Award for Most Committed Performance. That same year, he won the Surfline Wave of the Winter , for an incredibly deep, blue, massive Pipeline tube -- as classic a Pipeline wave as there's ever been. Respect from the North Shore stronghold was instantaneous.Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to Ricardo's friends and family, and the entire Brazilian surfing community, for this terrible, senseless tragedy that stole a brilliant young man who was well on his way to becoming one of the greatest Brazilian surfers and most fearless tuberiding heroes of all time.

when Gabriel Medina became the first Brazilian to win the ASP World Title. Now, they’re dealing with the lowest of low points, as recent reports have confirmed our worst fears: 24-year-old professional surfer and tuberiding legend Ricardo Dos Santos has just passed away in a Brazilian hospital. He was murdered. After sustaining multiple gunshot wounds at Praia da Guarda do Embau, near Palhoca, yesterday, Ricardo remained in critical condition at a hospital in Brazil. Conflicting reports started emerging regarding the specifics of the incident, but the fact remained that yesterday morning, Dos Santos was shot three times in the chest and stomach by another man.“The details are still confusing, but apparently there was a group of people openly using drugs on the beach and he went over to ask them to stop it, and someone shot him three times in the stomach. He’s in surgery right now, but reports say that he’s in bad shape,” said Steven Allain, the International Editor of HARDCORE Magazine, shortly after the incident.