In tragic news from the world of sport, 24-year-old surfer Ricardo Dos Santos has died after being shot three times near his home at Praia da Guarda do Embau in the south of Brazil.
The Sydney Morning Herald report that the surfer was shot three times in the stomach and chest, suffering a perforated lung. He was flown to hospital in Santa Catarina, but died a day later.
The circumstances behind the shooting are unclear, but a report in surfing magazine Stab claims that he confronted a group of people “playing loud music and using drugs” at the beach near his home.
They go on to note that Dos Santos, a long-time resident of the area, had previously reached out to his social media following, concerned about the rise of street crime in the once-sleepy beach town.
Per Stab’s report, 25-year-old off-duty soldier Luiz Paulo Mota Brentano and his 17-year-old brother are “the only suspects” connected with the crime, and have been apprehended.
Tributes have since flown in for the surfer, and the above photograph was posted by his girlfriend, model Karoline Esser, on Instagram, thanking people for their support.
Long-time friend Kelly Slater has expressed his shock and dismay, praising Dos Santos as “one of the great barrel riders” and lamenting the loss to the surfing community:
