Aftermath of police raid where dozens died in Rio

A gun battle between heavily armed gang members and police erupted in the Jacarezinho favela, in the northern part of Rio de Janeiro, leaving one policeman dead, along with 24 suspected gang members, according to police.

Police raided the favela at dawn, deploying dozens of heavily armed special forces into the tightly packed neighborhood of 40,000 residents.

Police said they were investigating the recruitment of teenagers by the Red Command gang, (Comando Vermelho) who are heavily involved in drug and arms trafficking.

Police also consider Jacarezinho to be one of the group's headquarters.

A police helicopter swooped in low in the early morning hours, while gang members fled over rooftops and alleyways, firing back at police commandos.

One resident described the moment police entered her home chasing a bleeding suspect.

"About 8 o'clock this morning a criminal came into my house, since I live in a favela I had no way to keep him out, he had a bullet wound and then the police came and asked whether any gang members were in the house, and I nodded with my head, yes, because I didn't want to endanger my family. So the police came in and killed the kid in my daughter's room," 43-year-old Flavia Luciana told journalists in the blood-stained foyer of her modest home.

The force identified 21 members of the group that dominate the territory with a "warlike structure of soldiers equipped with rifles, grenades, bulletproof vests, pistols, camouflaged clothing and other military accessories."

In the first three months of the year, the Candido Mendes University's Public Safety Observatory registered 257 police operations that, on 12 occasions, resulted in three or more deaths.

Many of them appear to violate a ruling by Brazil's Supreme Court last year that ordered the police to suspend operations during the pandemic, restricting them only to "absolutely exceptional" situations.

The Supreme Court declined to comment when asked by The Associated Press if Thursday’s operation would qualify.