Albufeira mourns Lucas Leote, boy shot dead at Vilamoura nightclub

Lucas Leote, 19, was “one of the most promising musicians” of the Paderne Philharmonic Band, a village in the municipality of Albufeira where he lived, “a wonderful son and friend of his peers”. He was shot dead by mistake at the door of Lick nightclub in Vilamoura in the early hours of Friday last week.

Last night, both José Carlos Rolo, mayor of Albufeira, and the Paderne Music Society, of which Lucas was a member, came out to express their grief and dismay at the death of the young man.

“It was with deep sadness that I received news of the death of a young man from Albufeira, in circumstances of extreme violence,” the mayor said in a statement.

The mayor of Albufeira appealed “to all young people of Albufeira to attend the last farewell with a white flower, as a show of denial and repudiation of violence.”

Paderne Music Society and its brass band claim to have suffered “one of the hardest setbacks in their long history, losing one of their young musicians.” “Lucas will always be remembered as one of the young musicians who helped grow and honour the Paderne Philharmonic Band,” said the community, addressing the deepest condolences and strength needed to endure such a hard loss, “to mother Simone and sister Bruna,” who were also part of the Philharmonic Band.

Also at Lick, a night was held in honour of Lucas. It did not open its doors on Friday night “by unanimous decision of the staff” and given the tragic events of Thursday night that resulted in the death of a member of the Lick family, according to a statement posted on the nightclub’s Facebook page entitled “Everyone against the violence”.

This is despite the fact that, at first, those responsible for the nightclub announced that they would open on Saturday, in honour of Lucas Leote, and to demonstrate that “violence will never prevail over good citizenship”, a post that has since been withdrawn, after generating much criticism. The many nightclub employees who met last night decided to pay tribute to their late colleague over the weekend.

On Friday, at about 3:30 am, a young man who had been prevented from entering Lick some time earlier fired several shots, which hit Lucas Leote, a nightclub worker who was at the door putting wristbands on customers. The victim, who was hit in the head, was transported to the hospital but eventually died.

The young Padernan was not the target of the shots, which were intended for the security guard who had barred the entrance to the murderer. The young man who fired was recognized by the staff members who witnessed the shooting, considering that he is the boyfriend of a former employee of this nightlife space, according to a source from the nightclub.

After committing the crime, the murderer fled the scene on a motorcycle that was registered in the name of his partner, who was inside the nightclub and has already been questioned by police. The vehicle used in the escape was, however, abandoned. The murderer was allegedly taken in to custody when his father surrendered him to authorities at the weekend.