The first six months of 2024 were marked by a drop in the rates of armed violence in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. Police actions continue to be the main reason for the mapped records. The data are part of the semiannual report of the Instituto Fogo Cruzado. With an average of seven records per day, the first half of 2024 accumulated 1,346 shootings/gunshots in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. The number indicates a drop of 24%, compared to the same period in 2023, which accumulated 1,777 shootings. This is the lowest number of shootings recorded in the first half of the year in the historical series of Fogo Cruzado. The drop in shootings is also reflected in the number of dead and injured. Among the shootings mapped from January to June, there was police participation in 450 of them, which represents 33% of the records. In this first semester, 732 people were shot: 370 died and 362 were injured. There was a drop of 36% among the dead and 32% among the injured compared to the same period in 2023, which accumulated 1,109 shots, with 578 dead and 531 injured. 55% of the victims of gunfire were hit during police actions/operations. The city of Rio de Janeiro concentrated 71% of the shootings, 57% of the dead, and 59% of the injured.
This Content Is Only For Subscribers
To unlock this content, subscribe to INTERLIRA Reports.
10/08/2024 – The Civil Police is investigating the death of a patient at the Lourenço Jorge Hospital, in Barra da Tijuca. The family of Richard Ferreira da Cruz, 20, accuses a doctor of having assaulted him with kicks and punches. The Municipal Health Department said that the young man attacked health professionals, who had to adopt protection measures. Richard’s relatives said that he was admitted to the health unit on Saturday night (10) after being the victim of a robbery and having been stabbed in the neck. Richard’s mother said she received a call from the hospital in the early hours of Sunday (11) informing her that her son was very agitated. She said she went to the scene and explained to the team on duty that her son suffered from mental health issues. According to the mother, during an attempt at sedation, the son went towards the doctor, who would have assaulted him, reopening the wound caused by the stabbing.
11/08/2024 – A woman was shot dead by a civil policeman in the early hours of Sunday (11) on Avenida Brasil, near Barros Filho, in the North Zone of Rio. The victim was identified as Elaine Esteves, 39 years old. According to a witness, Elaine and her husband left a nightclub and, on the way home, were involved in a traffic collision and were chased by the driver. During the chase, Elaine’s husband would have lost control of the car on a curve, spun, and hit a convoy of the Capital Homicide Police Station (DHC) that was passing by the expressway. The agents then fired at the car and ended up hitting Elaine.
13/08/2024 – A bus on line 335 (Cordovil x Tiradentes) was hijacked and used as a barricade, in Cidade Alta, on Tuesday morning (13), during a police operation in communities of Complexo de Israel, in the North Zone of Rio. The collective was hijacked after the driver and passengers were forced to get off. According to Rio Ônibus, in the last 12 months, 138 vehicles have already been targeted by this type of criminal action. According to the Military Police Secretariat, teams from the 16th BPM (Olaria) did an operation in three favelas that make up the Complexo de Israel to repress organized crime and clear roads blocked by barricades.
13/08/2024 – Based on information received by the Disque Denúncia, the police arrested on Tuesday (13), Luiz Gustavo da Silva Rosa, the “Bicheiro”, one of the main drug traffickers in Angra dos Reis. He was in the company of an accomplice. He was on the run and was found inside a residence on Estrada do Galeão, on Ilha do Governador, in the capital. The information showed that he would be hiding due to an operation in Complexo da Maré. In addition, “Bicheiro” would also be involved in the death of two BOPE police officers in the community. The Denunciation Hotline had received about 11 calls informing them about his whereabouts.
13/08/2024 – Agents of the Civil and Military Police, the Specialized Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (GAECO/MPRJ) and the Municipal Department of Public Order participated, on Tuesday (13), in an operation in Complexo da Maré against money laundering from drug trafficking. In the action, the Novo Horizonte condominium, in Parque União, was demolished. It was discovered in an investigation by the Narcotics Repression Police Station (DRE), last July, and is suspected of having been built by the Red Command, a faction present in the community. In all, the condominium has more than 40 irregular constructions, some with up to six floors.
13/08/2024 – A military police officer was injured in a confrontation with criminals in Gardênia Azul, West Zone of Rio, on Tuesday afternoon (13). Teams from the 18th BPM went to the community for an occurrence, in which there was a seizure of drugs. In a statement, the PM says that the agents were patrolling the Favelão region, where they came across a group of armed men, who fled into the interior of the community. The PMs began searches in the region and seized a grenade and a large amount of narcotic material. Then, a team was attacked by a group of armed men. An exchange of fire began and one of the police officers was injured.
13/08/2024 – A man was arrested on Tuesday (13), in Engenho Novo, North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, accused of different crimes against children and adolescents. According to the Civil Police, agents from the Child and Adolescent Victim Police Station (DCAV) served temporary arrest and search and seizure warrants for the rape of a vulnerable person and the production and storage of child and juvenile pornographic material.
14/08/2024 – Federal police officer Sergio Luiz de Medeiros, 62, was shot dead on Wednesday night (14), on Padre Ildefonso Penalba Street, in Todos os Santos, North Zone of Rio. He was in his car with his wife, daughter, and a family friend when he was surrendered by a bandit who announced a robbery. According to witnesses, the criminal realized that the victim was a police officer when he saw his gun and fired.
14/08/2024 – Drug traffickers kidnapped and used 10 buses and three trucks as barricades in the streets around the Chapadão Complex on Wednesday morning (14). Some of the buses were crossed on Avenida Chrisóstomo Pimentel and Marcos de Macedo and Alcobaça streets. In the early afternoon, it was possible to see a queue of about 20 buses stopped on a street in Guadeloupe: companies feared new kidnappings and, therefore, circulation was stopped. Bandits would also have ordered merchants in the neighborhoods of Anchieta and Guadalupe to close. The criminal action would be a reprisal against the death of a drug lord during a Military Police operation in the favela complex.
14/08/2024 – A suspect died and two others were arrested, on Wednesday night (14), after a confrontation with Military Police in Taquara, West Zone of Rio. Moments before, the trio stole a car and took the victim hostage in Curicica. According to the corporation, agents of the 18th BPM (Jacarepaguá) were called to an occurrence of vehicle theft. At the scene, they saw a car with the characteristics of the one that had been stolen. After an attempt to approach, the suspects fled. During the chase, the police managed to surround the vehicle but were attacked and there was an exchange of fire. One of the suspects died and two others were arrested. The victim, who had been taken hostage, was released. With the bandits, a pistol, three magazines, ammunition, four cell phones, and a GPS blocker were seized.
14/08/2024 – A gang of embezzlers was arrested on Wednesday (14) on Rua Marquês de São Vicente, in Gávea. The action was carried out by police officers from Lagoa Presente, in support of the agents of the 37th DP (Ilha do Governador). The group, made up of two couples, specialized in scamming the elderly. The investigation revealed that one couple was withdrawing benefits from third parties at a bank branch, while the other was waiting in the car to assist in the escape. According to information from the State Government, a Civil Police team surrounded the criminals while the group applied a scam inside Shopping da Gávea.
15/08/2024 – On Thursday (15), the Civil Police carried out an operation aimed at dismantling a division of the Red Command (CV) that transports large loads of cocaine from São Paulo to communities in Rio. The drug trafficker known as “My Thor”, one of the leaders of the CV, and a police officer from the corporation were the targets of search and seizure warrants. Agents of the Police Station for the Repression of Organized Criminal Actions and Special Investigations (DRACO) carried out the investigations at the policeman’s house, in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, and at the trafficker’s cell, at the Bangu 3 prison, both in the West Zone of Rio. The chief of the specialized explained that the agent was responsible for a shell company that laundered the money used to purchase the cocaine loads. In the trafficker’s cell, the police seized 10 cell phones.
15/08/2024 – Two people were shot during a shootout, on Thursday (15), after the theft of a truck of household appliances on Guilherme Maxwell Street, in Bonsucesso, in the North Zone of Rio. Among the injured are a military police officer and a citizen who was driving by the scene. According to the PM, the criminals, who were on four motorcycles, approached the truck driver and announced the robbery. The agent who was returning home after leaving work saw the group’s action and reacted. The truck’s cargo, valued at more than R$ 320,000, was recovered on Leopoldo Bulhões Street in Benfica, North Zone.