A 19-year-old Brazilian esports player was murdered by another gamer, according to police
- Police in Brazil said Oliveira Bueno da Silva, known online as "Sol," was killed on Monday.
- Fellow Call of Duty Mobile player Guilherme Alves Costa turned himself into police shortly after.
- Costa reportedly shared a video of the attack to Gamer's Elite on WhatsApp.
A Call of Duty Mobile player named Oliveira Bueno da Silva, known online as "Sol," was killed by another player at her home on Monday, according to ESPN Brazil which has seen the report from police.
ESPN Brazil reports that Silva, a 19-year-old who had just started her career in the mobile esports scene, was killed by another player named Guilherme Alves Costa, who goes by "Flashlight" in the gaming world. Silva is said to have met Costa a month ago online and according to the police report, there's evidence that he had been planning the attack for at least two weeks in his notebook.
Police said Silva was stabbed to death at her home in Pirituba, a neighborhood in the north of São Paulo in Brazil. Costa reportedly shared a video of the attack on WhatsApp with multiple people, including esports organization Gamer's Elite. He is also said to have sent a PDF with messages "of hatred against Christians and makes a nod to terrorism," according to a translated Instagram post from the Call of Duty Mobile organization.
Gamer's Elite wrote that they "informed the appropriate authorities and asked our members not to share the video of the alleged crime" and "we have never seen him in person and only a few in our organization have seen his face," according to the translated statement.
The files were also reportedly sent to Federal University of Ceará professor Lola Aronavich, who said on Twitter that the messages promised "new attacks with various links to videos."
According to the police report obtained by ESPN Brazil, Costa surrendered to police 30 minutes after Silva's murder and told officers "my sanity is completely fit." The case appears to fall under the specific crime of femicide, which is a type of murder under Brazil's penal code that is defined as a premeditated attack on a woman based on her gender and is classified as a sub-category of murder in Brazil.
The Brazilian Call of Duty Mobile scene is mourning the death of Silva. Esports organization Jaguares Esports called attention to the murder and the hate that women in the sport experience every day.
The story broke through to an international audience quickly, with Twitter personalities like esports reporter Rod "Slasher" Breslau sharing the news to his 444,000 followers.
"She was an extraordinary person, whom we will remember every day that the sun rises, every day that the sunlight touches our body, every time we look at the Sun, we will remember her," a spokesperson for Sol's team, FBI eSports, wrote on Instagram, according to ESPN Brazil.
Call of Duty Mobile has over 250 million downloads worldwide since its launch over a year ago. The title has an explosive esports scene in Brazil, with multiple esports organizations dedicated to competing in the title.
According to the 2019 Annual Brazilian Public Security report, violent deaths fell 10% in 2018 but femicide cases rose 4% over that same period.