According to data from urban violence monitor Fogo Cruzado, there were at least 505 shootouts in Greater Rio de Janeiro in May. While a staggering number, this represented a 27-percent drop from May 2019. The number of victims of these shootings also fell, from 137 deaths and 136 wounded last year, to 92 deaths and 76 injured last month.
Launched in 2016 by Amnesty International, Fogo Cruzado consists of a mobile app that cross-checks reports of urban violence and shootings from a range of sources — including journalists, police officers and residents — across Greater Rio de Janeiro. It also trawls official police and press data.
As shown by The Brazilian Report, black and multiracial people are disproportionately killed by the police in Brazil — with the death of João Pedro Mattos, a 14-year-old student shot by the Rio police while playing with his cousin, serving as the latest example.
On Sunday, social groups staged a Black Lives Matter protest in front of the Guanabara Palace, the official headquarters of the Rio de Janeiro state government. Protesters were met with tear gas and heavy-handed policing from law enforcement. One demonstrator was arrested, with TV stations showing footage of the man in question, unarmed, being held at gunpoint by a police officer bearing an assault rifle. The police department said it will investigate this “breach of protocol.”
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