Between October 28th of last year and January 28th of this year, 329 people were killed by firearms in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, which encompasses 22 municipalities in total: the capital, the municipalities of the metropolitan east and Baixada Fluminense.
The number exceeds by 44.2% (101 cases) the total number of shooting deaths that occurred in the same period in previous years (October 28, 2024 to January 28, 2025), when 228 people were killed.
On October 28, the government of Rio de Janeiro mobilized 2,500 police officers in a mega operation for the execution of 100 arrest warrants for members of the Red Command in 26 communities in the north of the capital and which form Complexo da Penha and Complexo do Alemão.
The data are from the Fogo Cruzado Institute and were collected at the request of Agência Brasil.
The number of people fatally affected includes innocent people of different ages, people involved in crimes and wanted by the police, as well as agents of the security forces of the state of Rio. Four people were killed by stray bullets and 23 were injured – of these, eight people were hit in police actions.
Shootings and lethality
According to Fogo Cruzado, between October 28, 2025 and January 28, 2026, 220 people were injured non-lethally by gunshots and 520 shootings occurred. Two hundred shootings (38.4%) occurred during police actions or operations, which resulted in 210 people dead (68.8% of cases) and 125 people injured (56.8% of cases).
Almost half of the total number of people killed by bullets after the mega operation (47.7%) were shot in the 12 massacres that took place in the last three monthseight of these massacres were police-initiated. Since August 28, 2020, the beginning of the Cláudio Castro government, 890 people have been killed in massacres, also quantified by the Fogo Cruzado Institute.
Ongoing investigations
The Public Security Specialized Action Group of the Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro (GAESP/MPRJ) informed Agência Brasil that there are ongoing investigations into the mega police operation in the Penha and Alemão complexes. According to a statement, the work is taking place under secrecy and “several police officers, victims’ families and other witnesses were interviewed.”
Without success, the report tried to hear from the Public Security Secretariat of the government of Rio de Janeiro and the Civil Police to find out if after the mega operation in the Penha and Alemão complexes there was a reduction in the number of territories dominated by criminal factions in the state of Rio, if there was a drop or increase in robberies and thefts and if the volume of drugs and weapons seized varied, among other information.
THE Brazil Agency also sought statements regarding the three months after the operation from the Public Defender’s Office, the Brazilian Bar Association (Rio de Janeiro section), and the National Council of Justice.
The space remains open to all institutions.
