The Cariri region of Ceará recorded two murders involving knife attacks in a period of less than six hours this Friday (27). The crimes, which occurred in the cities of Juazeiro do Norte and Potengi, shocked the population and mobilized local authorities.



At around 1 pm, on Rua Taxista Pedro Sérgio de Araújo, in the Monsenhor Murilo de Sá Barreto neighborhood, in Juazeiro do Norte, plasterer Laércio Araújo Lopes, 36, was found dead inside a building under construction. The victim's body had stab wounds to the neck and abdomen.



According to information from witnesses given to the police, the suspect in the crime is bricklayer José Damião Silva Lopes, 40, who was working on a construction site next door. Locals reported that he had entered the property and attacked Laércio before fleeing on foot, heading in an unknown direction. The motive for the crime has not yet been clarified, and the police are still searching for the suspect.



Early in the evening, around 7:00 p.m., another homicide was reported, this time in the city of Potengi. In Vila Central, at property number 354, Genival Ferreira Lima, 52, was also stabbed to death.



According to preliminary information provided by the police to the Caririceara website, the victim was having dinner alone at home when the suspect, Éder Cavalcante, 30, from Goierê, Paraná, arrived and attacked him with a knife. Wounded, Genival ran for cover, but fell in the area of his godmother's house. According to locals, the attacker chased him and stabbed him again.



A search on the website of the Secretariat of Public Security and Social Defense of the State of Ceará found that neither the victim nor the suspect have a criminal record.



Both cases are being investigated by the Civil Police, which is seeking to clarify the motivations and capture those responsible ..