Police raid in Rio de Janeiro favela leaves at least 25 dead

Bullet holes in a doorway in Rio's Jacarezinho favela.
(Image credit: Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images)

At least 25 people were killed on Thursday after Brazilian police raided the Jacarezinho favela in Rio de Janeiro.

Authorities told The Associated Press the operation was targeting drug traffickers in the favela who were trying to recruit kids, and one officer and 24 "criminals" were shot and killed. "They were all traffickers or criminals who tried to take the lives of our police officers and there was no other alternative," Felipe Curi, a detective with Rio's civil police, said during a news conference.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.