A member of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State (PMERJ) gives instructions to motorcyclists at one of the entrances to the Complexo do Alemao favela during a police operation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP
A police raid Tuesday, February 27, 2024 morning in several Rio de Janeiro’s sprawling, low-income neighborhoods left at least nine dead and six injured, police said in a statement.
The raids targeted areas controlled by the Red Command drug trafficking group and took place in several communities in the city’s north, including Cidade de Deus, and the Alemao and Penha complexes of favelas.
Also read: Favelas left to fight it alone in Brazil
Local residents took to social media to share videos and photos of intense gunfire. Thousands of children were forced to stay home, with public transport and schools shut while the operation was ongoing.
TV broadcaster Globo News showed images of barricades — made of rubber tires, furniture, cars — sometimes set on fire by criminals in an effort to slow down police.
According to Fogo Cruzado, a nonprofit organization that provides real-time reporting of gun violence in Brazil, shots in the Alemao complex were still being reported mid-afternoon.
