Four Accused Bamor Members Face Jury in Bahia Bus Attack Case

The Bahia team bus was approaching Salvador’s Arena Fonte Nova on 24 February 2022 when explosive devices struck it. The players were travelling to a Copa do Nordeste match against Sampaio Corrêa. Goalkeeper Danilo Fernandes was hit by fragments near his eye; left-back Matheus Bahia was also injured. More than four years later, a court ruled that four men accused of participating in the attack should face a jury—but did not convict them.

One explosive entered through a window on the right side of the bus, near the rear seats. A seat was torn, and broken glass scattered inside. Security cameras near Avenida Bonocô recorded two cars and people fleeing after explosives were thrown. Fernandes was taken to hospital, where he underwent surgery to remove glass from his neck. He received 20 stitches across his ear, face and leg and was discharged the following evening.

The Civil Police investigated, and in September 2022 the Bahia public prosecutor’s office charged four men, identified as members of the organized supporters’ group Bamor, with attempted homicide. Prosecutors alleged that they had acted together to strike the bus. According to the prosecution, two threw the devices while the other two drove the cars used to reach the location and flee. Those alleged roles were not findings of guilt.

Prosecutors argued that throwing explosives at a vehicle carrying people and flammable fuel meant accepting the risk of causing death. The defense offered a different account: lawyer Otto Lopes said his clients had set off fireworks to encourage the team before the match.

A pronúncia decision published on 15 September 2026 moved the case toward a jury trial on an accusation of attempted homicide aggravated by the use of a means capable of endangering others. Salvador’s 1st Jury Court found evidence that the attack had occurred and sufficient indications of the defendants’ involvement to submit the case to jurors. The material considered included examined camera images, injury and vehicle reports, testimony and traces of gunpowder found in one of the cars. The judge found indications of coordinated action and of acceptance of the risk of death.

The ruling was preliminary and appealable. At the time of the September reporting, all four defendants remained free, and a jury date could be set only after the possibility of appealing that decision was exhausted. Their defense said it would challenge the ruling, disputed that the evidence established an intention to kill and questioned the legal basis for sending the attempted-homicide accusation to a jury.

The defense also expressed solidarity with the injured players and repudiated violence in football. For Fernandes, the physical consequences extended beyond his hospital stay: for months after the attack, he continued having fragments of glass removed from his body.