Two security helicopters were shot at by gunmen as they flew over Vila Cruzeiro in the northern Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro at dawn as part of a major joint operation by regional police forces. According to preliminary information, none of the agents were seriously injured.
The planes, one military police (ostensibly public security) and the other civilian police (judicial), were shot down as they flew low over a populated area, providing support to agents invading the area by land. The pilots managed to master the instruments and soon land in a safe area without any problems.
The joint operation between the two police forces, one of the largest in the city in recent years, involves more than a thousand officers, reinforced by both aircraft and large numbers of armored vehicles. The targets are the megafavelas of Mare, Vila Cruzeiro and Cidade de Deus, all dominated by Comando Vermelho, the largest and oldest criminal gang in Rio de Janeiro, accused of involvement in the brutal executions of three São Paulo doctors in the early hours of Friday in Barra da Tijuca.
The three doctors, accompanied by a fourth who survived being hit by 14 shells, traveled to Rio de Janeiro to attend an international congress of orthopedic surgeons. Concerned about violence in the city, the three orthopedic surgeons decided not to leave the place where they were staying and went for a drink and to socialize with other specialists at a bar in front of the hotel, across the street from where they were staying. riddled with bullets as they paid the bill to leave the premises.
One of the doctors, unfortunately for everyone, looked very much like the leader of the armed militia, a rival of Comando Vermelho. Traffickers from this group passing by mistook him for a militia member, got out of the car and fired dozens of shots at the group. . Hours later, allegedly on the orders of the Red Command leaders who were being hunted this Monday, four suspected doctor killers were killed and left in abandoned cars on a public road because the criminal organization was completely unhappy with what was happening. the tragic mistake and the actions that the police took against the group after that.