Shootings in Rio grow 29% in the first month of the year, points out institute

A survey by the Fogo Cruzado Institute points to a 29% increase in the number of shootings in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro in the first month of the year compared to the same period in 2022. There were 294 shootings against 228. 81 died and 83 were injured. In January 2022, there were 122 shots, with 64 dead and 58 injured. According to the data, 14 people were victims of stray bullets in Greater Rio in January of this year (with three deaths), eight of which were hit during police actions or operations. The survey records four massacres in the metropolitan region of Rio, with 16 deaths in total. The municipalities with the most shootings are Rio de Janeiro (194), Duque de Caxias (23), Niterói (14), São Gonçalo (13) and Nova Iguaçu (10). Trafficking and militia The institute’s monthly report also points to the intensification of disputes over territory between militias and drug trafficking factions, mainly in the western part of the capital. Only the region had nine shootings, which means that for every four shootings between armed groups, one occurred in the west zone. Some of the areas that registered the most conflicts were Gardênia Azul, Cidade de Deus, Muzema and Curicica, scaring residents. In Gardênia Azul, residents report that drug dealers impose a curfew and families are concerned about the return to school in the public school system. “We see that these groups have made strategic movements geographically, thinking about taking territories. We are monitoring it year after year and showing this from our data”, said Carlos Nhanga, regional coordinator of the institute. For the regional coordinator, the data are important for the construction of public policies that guarantee the safety of the population. “When you have a shooting, you don’t have an isolated case. It is not just a dispute between armed groups. It is a dispute that affects the lives of thousands of people in different ways. People who are going to work and are in the line of fire, children who stop studying because of the suspension of classes, transport that stops circulating. It is necessary to think about policies based on this portrait, looking at these impacts and policies that prevent this type of conflict, whether between armed groups or between police operations to access these invasions”, said the coordinator, adding that the report is forwarded to authorities, parliamentarians and press vehicles. The survey is carried out in partnership with the New Illegalism Study Group, from the Fluminense Federal University (Geni/UFF), and forms the Historical Map of Armed Groups, which helps to understand the different dynamics of armed violence in Rio de Janeiro.

Agência Brasil