Brazil: 25 Dead In Deadliest Rio de Janeiro Shootout

At least 25 people were killed in a shootout between suspected drug traffickers and police in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. This is one of the state’s deadliest police raids, police said. The shootout took place in the slum of Jacarezinho. The Civil Police were in the midst of an operation against members of the Comando Vermelho, drug trafficking network. The firefight forced residents to shelter in their homes.

Police said that 24 gang suspects were killed in the gun battle. It was one of the deadliest police operations in 16 years.

#Brazil: At least 25 are dead after 200 #RiodeJaneiro police raid #Jacarezinho favela, violating a court order & leaving streets full of corpses
Police celebrate it as a blow against drug gangs, but critics are calling it a “massacre”#ChacinaDoJacarezinhohttps://t.co/3Y5ywbTJWS pic.twitter.com/dkaWYXCFYv

— Duroyan Fertl (@dfertl) May 6, 2021

The bloodbath prompted criticism from human rights groups including Amnesty International. They slammed the police for the “reprehensible and unjustifiable” loss of life in a neighborhood mostly populated by Black and poor people.

“The number of people killed in this police operation is reprehensible, as is the fact that, once again, this massacre took place in a favela,” said Jurema Werneck, executive director of Amnesty International Brazil.

As reported by sources to DailyMail, The gang members were apparently armed with military gear and protected their turf with an arsenal of grenades, guns, and rifles. Security forces recovered six assault rifles, 15 handguns, a machine gun, 14 grenades, and a round of artillery ammunition. At least 14 purported members of the Comando Vermelho were apprehended.

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