RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At least 11 people were killed in an exchange of fire during a police operation in a favela in northern Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, according to military police.
Among the victims were ten suspected members of a criminal organization and a 41-year-old local woman, police said in an initial statement.
At least two other people were injured and taken to Getulio Vargas Hospital in Rio de Janeiro.
The aim of the police raid, which began at 4 a.m. to arrest leaders of the Comando Vermelho criminal group, one of the most powerful criminal groups in the country, who are hiding in the Penha complex, a vast favela complex in the north of the country.
According to police, they were fired upon by suspected criminals who fled to a forested area in the upper part of the favelas, where the shooting continues.
According to the initial report, police seized nine rifles, four pistols, and grenades.
Tuesday’s shooting occurred a year after a similar operation that killed 28 people in the Jacarezinho favela considered the deadliest in Rio de Janeiro.