With his young son in one arm, off-duty officer opens fire on armed robbers

He went to the pharmacy with his wife and young son to get medicine.

Just moments after arrival, however, the off-duty military officer in Brazil found himself firing at two armed robbers while holding his toddler in his arm, CBS News reported. One of the robbers pointed a gun at St. Rafael Souza, authorities said, who then drew his own weapon and began firing.

The incident occurred Saturday in Campo Limpo Paulista, about 24 miles outside of Sao Paulo, according to The Independent newspaper.

Surveillance video shows one of the hooded robbers walking down a lane of the store, then Souza showing up on camera and opening fire. Souza’s wife can be seen covering her ears from the noise of the gunfire, then crawling toward Souza in an aisle so she can retrieve their son.

Souza pauses long enough in his assault to hand his son to his wife, then opened fire again. He reportedly shot and killed one robber while still holding his son and then fatally shot the second robber after turning him over to his wife, The Independent reported.

Both robbers, ages 24 and 22, were pronounced dead at the scene. Souza told investigators he shot at the robbers because he believed they would have opened fire after he identified himself as a police officer.

The incident remains under investigation.

This story was originally published November 22, 2017 at 3:04 PM with the headline "With his young son in one arm, off-duty officer opens fire on armed robbers."