Kidnapper Shot After Hijacking Bus in Brazil With 40 Passengers

A man hijacked a bus in Rio de Janeiro with almost 40  passengers on board and threatened to set the bus on fire Tuesday. 

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Brazilian police confirmed his death after holding the passengers' hostage for almost four hours. They also confirmed the safety of the hostages and said that the perpetrator’s gun was fake. 

He was shot by a sniper at 9 a.m. local time when he was descending from the bus. 

He took the bus hostage at 5:15 a.m. local time on the bridge that connects the city of Rio de Janeiro with Niteroi. 

teleSUR's correspondent in Brazil, Andre Vieira, reported that shots were heard in the Rio-Niteroi Bridge.

“The Police of Rio de Janeiro confirms that the kidnapper was killed by a sniper and that the 31 hostages were released. Earlier another 6 hostages had been released,” he said. 

"The bus hijacker on the Rio-Niterói bridge was hit by bullet strikes and injured in the leg," he said.

Traffic between Niteroi and Rio is paralyzed after police closed access on both sides of the bridge.

Earlier, the spokeswoman for the Federal Road Police (PRF), Sheila Sena said that "we have an armed man who identified himself as a military policeman. He is threatening to throw gasoline at the bus, putting passengers in danger.”