Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor:  Joana Mihajlovska, Agency: Newsflash

Armed criminals have broken into this 15-year-old girl’s family home and shot her dead in front of her aunt and young cousins in Brazil.

Bruna Marcela da Silva e Silva was shot dead inside her home in the northern Brazilian city of Rio Branco on the night of 23rd March.

According to the police, who spoke to the victim’s aunt, the relatives were at home when they were surprised by an unexpected knock on the door.

Two men, who had arrived on motorbike and one of whom was armed, broke in to the residence and approached the victim, who tried to lock herself in her room.

However, she was unsuccessful and the armed man shot her five times, including in the head, killing her on the spot.

The victim’s aunt, meanwhile, had locked herself in the bathroom with her two young children, and was unable to identify the two suspects, nor discern in which direction they later fled.

By the time paramedics arrived at the scene, the teen was dead, and her body was taken away for autopsy.

The police believe the killing was the result of a feud between rival gangs.

According to local media, the teen had originally been a member of the B13 gang and had defected to the notorious Comando Vermelho criminal organisation.

The hypothesis is that B13 members ordered her killing. The police will conduct a full investigation into the murder. The suspects have not yet been found.

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