Between January and July 2025, cases of physical aggression in Rio de Janeiro state schools rose 33% compared to the same period in 2024, climbing from 186 to 249 incidents. Thefts increased even more sharply, up 200%, from 46 to 139 cases. According to the state Education Secretariat, the rise reflects not only more violence but also better reporting since data collection began in 2023. Authorities say they are expanding safety measures, training teachers—especially in high-risk areas—holding socio-educational lectures, and deploying an app that allows schools to quickly call military police in emergencies.
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11/09/2025 – On Thursday (11/09), police in Rio de Janeiro arrested a man in Marechal Hermes on charges of abusing his five children, aged 8 to 15, and a dog. The case was reported by a social project assisting the minors since April, after a voice message captured the father threatening and beating one of the children. The children and the dog showed signs of recent injuries, and police also found evidence of electricity theft.
12/09/2025 – On Friday morning (12/09), a Brazilian Navy serviceman shot and killed an armed robber during an attempted assault on Avenida Dom Hélder Câmara in Piedade, North Zone. According to witnesses, the suspect had been committing robberies in the area using a motorcycle, which was seized along with three stolen cell phones. The case was recorded at the 24th Police Precinct, and patrols were reinforced in the region.
12/09/2025 – On Friday (12/09), a shootout between rival drug traffickers in Morro do Barbante, Ilha do Governador, left a 23-year-old resident dead while he was working at a car wash near his home. Two others were injured and taken to the hospital: one identified as a local trafficker now under police custody, and another a 58-year-old resident whose condition remains unknown. Witnesses reported that gunmen from Morro do Dendê attempted to invade the rival community through Rua Martim Pescador.
12/09/2025 – On Friday (12/09), three military police officers were arrested by Rio de Janeiro’s Anti-Kidnapping Division and the PM’s Internal Affairs for allegedly kidnapping a criminal in Santíssimo, West Zone, and demanding R$500,000 from his wife for his release. The victim was ambushed around 12:30 when arriving home with his family, by masked men in PM uniforms armed with rifles, who forced him into their car. Shortly after, his wife received a ransom call. Investigators confirmed the officers were on duty with the Tactical Action Group (GAT) at the time, and the case is being treated as extortion through kidnapping.
13/09/2025 – On Saturday (13/09), a 24-year-old man, Matheus Casemiro dos Santos, was beaten to death with wooden sticks during a violent clash between rival soccer fans near Nilton Santos Stadium (Engenhão) in Engenho de Dentro, Rio’s North Zone. Videos circulating online show him lying on the ground, surrounded and brutally attacked with kicks and blows to the head. Police seized pieces of wood used in the assault, and two injured men were taken to the hospital. The Civil Police Homicide Division is investigating the killing, as military police units dispersed the crowd and recorded the incident.
14/09/2025 – On Sunday (14/09), a 31-year-old man with paranoid schizophrenia suffered a psychotic episode and entered an Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus temple on Rua Aurélio Valporto, in Marechal Hermes, North Zone. Witnesses reported that he was immobilized on the ground by a pastor and other church members, allegedly through neck compression, until he lost consciousness. He was revived by paramedics and taken to the hospital but died the next morning. The autopsy pointed to signs of asphyxiation and other injuries. Civil Police are investigating the case, which may be reclassified from bodily injury to homicide, while the family denounces the immobilization as excessive.
15/09/2025 – On Monday (15/09), Rio de Janeiro Civil Police and the state transport department (Detro) launched an operation uncovering a fraud scheme involving intermunicipal van fines, causing losses of about R$ 900,000. Investigations revealed a commissioned Detro employee altered 144 fines since 2021, reducing amounts or marking them as paid in exchange for bribes, keeping an estimated R$ 450,000. The scheme was exposed after an internal intelligence tip, leading to search and seizure of materials. The suspect will face charges of falsifying data in public systems and possibly corruption, and Detro confirmed he will be dismissed.
16/09/2025 – On Tuesday (16/09), a cable theft at a substation in Andaraí, North zone, caused a blackout that left parts of Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone, South Zone, and downtown without power for about three hours. Light reported that criminals cut a grounding wire, triggering an overload and fire, with service restored by 6:00 The company recorded 212 cable thefts from January to August 2025, totaling 144.5 km of wiring and R$ 13.4 million in losses, with Copacabana, Ipanema, and downtown among the hardest-hit areas.
17/09/2025 – On Wednesday (17/09), Civil Police officers arrested a 31-year-old militia member at Miguel Couto Hospital in Leblon, South Zone, where he was hospitalized. He is accused of being a key operative in the Rio das Pedras militia and faces two arrest warrants for double qualified homicide. Authorities describe him as the right-hand man of the group’s leader, already imprisoned, and continue investigating his role in multiple killings and organized crime activities in the city’s West Zone.
17/09/2025 – On Wednesday (17/09), civil police launched an operation in Vila Kennedy and Catiri, West Zone, to curb the Red Command’s territorial expansion. Investigations revealed that leaders based in the Complexo da Penha were directing armed cells to extend control into Catiri and Campo Grande, using Vila Kennedy as a logistical hub. The offensive tactics included homicides, forced evictions, curfews, barricades, and drone surveillance. The action, part of Operação Contenção, resulted in 27 arrests that day, with over 50 suspects detained overall and seven killed in clashes. Schools and health units in the area were forced to close or restrict services due to the violence.
17/09/2025 – On Wednesday (17/09), civil police from Rio de Janeiro arrested Inácio de Castro Silva, known as Canelão, in Diadema, São Paulo. Considered one of the most wanted figures in Rio’s criminal underworld, he was identified as the drug trade manager in Rocinha and credited with forging an alliance between the Red Command (CV) and São Paulo’s First Capital Command (PCC). Previously arrested in 2012 and released in 2018, he resumed criminal activity and strengthened ties with the PCC. On the run for five years for drug trafficking, he evaded capture by using false identities and constantly changing addresses.
18/09/2025 – On Thursday (18/09), eight armed and hooded men stormed Pedro II Municipal Hospital in Santa Cruz, West Zone, aiming to kill a 31-year-old patient who had survived a prior assassination attempt. The attackers, believed linked to a militia, subdued security guards and reached the surgical center, but the target had already been moved to the infirmary. The invasion, which endangered dozens of patients and disrupted medical care, was described by Rio’s health secretary as a “scene of terror” and proof of the collapse of public security. Police are investigating and conducting operations in nearby communities to locate the perpetrators.
19/09/2025 – On Friday (19/09), two military police officers from the 17th BPM were injured by shrapnel when their patrol encountered an explosive barricade in the Barbante community, Ilha do Governador. A police vehicle was also damaged. According to the Military Police, the explosives had been hidden under traffic cones as a trap. During the operation, officers seized a pistol and an unspecified quantity of drugs, and one suspect was arrested. The case was referred to the 37th Police Precinct.
