Conner Coffin and Carissa Moore Saw A Man Get Shot Down In Rio

Today, while walking home from lunch, Conner Coffin and Carissa Moore watched a man get gunned down in the street behind the contest area. “It was me, Carissa and a couple guys from Hurley,” Conner tells Stab. “At first I thought it was fire crackers, then someone yelled gun and we all just jumped.”

“We saw this guy trying to get away from the man wielding a pistol at the gas station,” Mr Coffin says. “He jumped on a motorcycle, he was shot and bleeding. It was pretty gnarly. I thought he got away, but I heard later that he was seen lying in the street. It’s definitely the sketchiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

It’s been a strange day for Mr Coffin but rail work of this magnitude we can look forward to for the remainder of the season.

“I’ve been having a really good time here,” Conner continues. “The waves have been fun, the water hasn’t been too dirty and nobody’s contracted the Zika Virus. Things seemed on the up and up. I’ve been hanging out with great people, eating good food and enjoying myself. Other than that it’s been sick here. But seeing someone get shot at a gas station in the middle of the day definitely keeps you on your toes. You just hope you don’t get caught in the cross fire.”

When standing room only turns into no room at all. Last year at Barra De Tijuca, Rio.

When those become the silver linings of holding the event at the WSL’s most questionable location, a better option surely exists. The waves are rarely good for the comp, the Zika Virus is running rampant and competitors fell ill from the water quality last year. On top of all this, Rio’s notorious for crime, the Brazilian police have been accused of killing street children to “clean the streets” prior to the Olympics and in the past five years have been responsible for 1,500 deaths in Rio de Janeiro alone. A few years back, Michel Bourez was walking home alone from a night out. He was kidnapped on the street and thrown into a car. At a red light he managed to escape back to the safety of his hotel. “It was fucking scary man,” he told Stab on the incident. When Shane Dorian was on tour he was held at gunpoint after winning the event for his surfboard. Also, last year, Filipe Toledo’s board was stolen by the crowd last year after the final. From the water the beach was inundated with fans, he couldn’t make it in. When he finally did, they tore his Sharpeye from under his arm. Additionally Kelly Slater’s withdrawn from the event, you can find him getting shacked silly in Lemoore.

Filly’s perfect ten rotation in the flats over Bede Durbidge in last year’s final. This board wouldn’t make it to the podium.