Eight dead after police raid in Rio de Janeiro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The raid in the Vila Cruzeiro favela was coordinated between Brazil’s Highway Police and the State Police. Officers seized automatic weapons, pistols, grenades and kilos of drugs, the Rio de Janeiro State Police reported.

More than a dozen schools and some family health clinics closed because of the gunfire.

One body was laid out on the street under a tarp, and a group of residents gathered nearby waiting to see if belonged to a relative or friend. Some protested against the operation, demanding to see the bodies of those who were killed.

“We found great resistance to advance and accomplish our goals, and probably these individuals were part of that resistance,” said Colonel Luiz Henrique Marinho, of the Rio de Janeiro State Police (PRMJ).

Friday’s raid targeted criminals planning attacks against security forces occupying the Jacarezinho favela, and one person was detained, according to the statement. Jacarezinho is where the state has launched its so-called “Integrated City” initiative that seeks to reclaim territory controlled by gangs – and also the site of a raid last year that left over two dozen people dead.

Earlier this month, Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court issued a ruling that forces Rio’s state government to institute measures aimed at reducing police killings and violations of human rights, including the development of a plan within 90 days.

The Court also ruled that lethal force should be employed only in situations in which all other means have been exhausted and when necessary to protect life, and that police have 180 days to install devices to record audio and video on their uniforms and vehicles.