Brazilian TikToker shot dead ‘by hitmen’ while live streaming

A Brazilian internet personality was shot dead on Sunday while live streaming on TikTok from his home in Rio de Janeiro.

It has been reported that Romim, who went by “Nesaku” online, was killed by hitmen, with local media outlets suggesting that he had been involved in drug trafficking and organized crime in the area.

According to the Mirror, Romim was filming himself while listening to the radio at home in Complexo do Alemāo, a collection of favelas in the northeastern area of town. After taking a few drags of his cigarette, he drops his phone and out of nowhere, four gunshots ring out behind him. 

His family rushed him to a nearby hospital, but doctors were unable to revive him and he succumbed to his injuries.

While Romim’s TikTok account has since been deleted, it was reported that he had around 100,000 followers. It was not clear how many were watching him at the time. The young TikToker, whose age is unknown, gained his following by posting comedic videos about his daily life in Brazil.

As El Tiempo Polatino reports, the suspected killers have not been identified, and no arrests have been made.

Romim is not the first TikToker to be murdered. Earlier this year, a popular Iraqi user who gained popularity for dancing was killed in her vehicle in Baghdad in what is believed to have been an assassination.

As the Daily Mail reports, Om Fahad was shot to death by a man on a motorcycle posing as a delivery driver.