A man has been shot dead in front of his family just as they were about to celebrate the arrival of the New Year.

Gilvan Pereira, 42, was just 15 minutes away from celebrating the start of the New Year with his family in the neighbourhood of Guilhermina in the city of Praia Grande in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo on Friday, 31st December.

His unnamed sister, 35, and brother-in-law, 34, said they were on the pavement with Pereira and other family members when two men pulled up on a motorbike and announced a robbery.

According to what the family members told the police, the man riding pillion got off, went up to Pereira, and removed his neck chain.

When the criminal tried to remove his watch, Pereira ended up making a movement and shouted, prompting the other criminal riding the motorbike to shoot him with a gun.

The bullet hit Pereira in the left side of his body at chest level. He then staggered into his garage and collapsed on the ground.

Paramedics were called to the scene, but they were only able to pronounce the victim dead.

The police have registered the case as a robbery, and forensic scientists were dispatched to the scene to gather evidence and remove the body.

The Civil Police (Brazil’s investigative police force) is investigating the case. At the time of writing, the suspects’ identities had not been reported.