Greater Rio de Janeiro Records Reduction in Shootings in December

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The “Fogo Cruzado” (“Crossed Fire”) digital platform recorded 362 shootings or gunfire incidents in the metropolitan region of Rio in December 2019. In all, 166 people were shot in the last month of the year, 93 of whom died.

There was a 49 percent decrease in shootings compared to the same period in 2018, when 711 shootings were recorded in December, leaving 210 people shot, 94 of whom died.

Despite the reduction in the number of shootings, the number of deaths during 2019 increased: there were 1,517 against 1,482 in 2018 and 1,330 in 2017.

The number of shootings or gunshots recorded in December is currently the 8th lowest month since the “Fogo Cruzado” platform was created in July 2016. Since April 2017, the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro has never experienced fewer than 400 shootings in a month.

The municipality of Rio de Janeiro accounted for 54 percent of all shootings and gunshots in Greater Rio in December with 196 cases.

In second place is São Gonçalo (51), followed by Belford Roxo (25), Niterói (19), Duque de Caxias (18) and Nova Iguaçu (17).

Rio de Janeiro was also the municipality recording the highest number of people shot, 64 in total, followed by São Gonçalo (43) and Niterói (17).

Compared to November, which saw 463 shootings in Greater Rio, December (362) experienced a 22 percent drop.

Vila Kennedy, a community in the west zone of Rio, was the neighborhood with the highest number of gunfire or shootings in Greater Rio for the third consecutive month, totaling 29. Next is Cidade de Deus (16), Centro de Belford Roxo (eight), and Costa Barros (eight). Jardim Catarina, in São Gonçalo, ranked eleventh.

“Fogo Cruzado” is a cooperative digital platform that maps gunfire and shootings in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro.