RIO DE JANEIRO — Just days after the new governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castro, took office saying he would prioritize reducing crime, at least 25 people, including one police officer, have been killed in a police operation in its capital, according to the New York Times.
The Guardian reports around 200 police targeted an alleged drug trafficker gang in the working class district of Jacarezinho.
Intense gunfire erupted as they entered the area in the early morning, according to local media outlet Globo.
A police helicopter flew low as armed men fled by jumping between rooftops, according to images shown on local television seen by the BBC.
The Associated Press spoke to witnesses describing police killing already wounded men.
Nadine Borges, vice president of the human rights commission at Brazil's bar association, told the New York Times: "There were executions of people who had already surrendered ... It was absolute barbarism."