Surveillance cameras captured the moment a man calmly grabbed a shovel from a store shelf and walked up behind a manager before hitting him in the head with it.
The footage showed Danielson Paiva, 29, entering the Machado supermarket in Sinope, Brazil, on Saturday afternoon and approaching an exhibition area.
Paiva is seen removing one of the shovels and walking towards Claudio dos Santos, 40, who had his back to him and was talking on his cellphone.
Paiva then turned and violently struck dos Santos in the head, knocking him to the ground.
A worker rushed towards Paiva, while another ran over and knocked him to the ground.
A dazed dos Santos, who lay on the ground for several seconds, was helped to his feet by bystanders and escorted from the scene as workers restrained Paiva.
The attacker was arrested on charges of attempted murder and remanded in custody after appearing in court on Sunday.
In her ruling, the judge said it was necessary to detain him.
A disgruntled man attacked a store manager in Sinope, Brazil, with a shovel on Saturday
The suspect is seen grabbing a shovel before attacking the manager. He is being held on suspicion of attempted murder
According to Mato Gross military police, Paiva confronted dos Santos after his wife, who works at the supermarket, complained about the manager.
Dos Santos told Brazilian news channel G1 that he had never had any form of communication with Paiva's wife before the attack.
“I don't have contact with the employees, but I always hold the leaders accountable,” dos Santos explains.
“…I don't know how she conveyed this information. I think she told her husband that I had morally harassed her, but I have had no contact with this employee.”
Dos Santos was rushed to a hospital after the attack and discharged on Sunday.
He said his injuries could have been much worse if he had not been talking on his cell phone.
“I never expected something like this to happen,” the manager said.
'He [Paiva] really wanted to kill me and what saved me was my cell phone, which broke in my ear and I had to get stitches.”
The attacker then turned and violently struck dos Santos in the head, knocking him to the ground
Supermarket employees restrained the suspect after the attack
'But it was the mobile phone that protected me from the blow.”
The supermarket said in a statement that it had opened an investigation into the attack.
“We are reinforcing our commitment to the respect, safety and well-being of our employees and customers, values that have always guided our actions,” the report said.
