Over 20 killed in Police shooting in Rio favela

BRAZIL: Police in Rio de Janeiro raided the Vila Cruzeiro favela before dawn on Tuesday. setting off a fierce firefight that authorities said killed more than 20 people. The operation was aimed at locating and arresting criminal leaders, some from other states, police said in an early statement.

The statement, issued Tuesday morning, said that officers were fired on while preparing their incursion and that one resident had been shot and killed on site. Local press reported that person was a 41-year-old woman hit by a stray bullet.

The police statement said 11 people also were found wounded after the shootout and taken to a nearby state hospital. But as the day wore on, residents used cars to carry more gunshot victims to that same hospital — most of whom were already dead. By late Tuesday, 21 corpses had arrived at the hospital and seven people were receiving treatment for injuries, the state’s health secretariat said in an emailed statement.

– JAPAN TODAY