A survey by the Fogo Cruzado Institute reveals that the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro had more children shot by March 10 of this year than in the entire year of 2022. In all, there were nine children injured by firearms. Three of them died. 
The ninth child, Maria Júlia da Silva Gomes, aged one year and eight months, was hit by a stray bullet yesterday (10), during a police operation in Ladeira dos Tabajaras, a slum located in Copacabana, in the south zone of Rio.
Maria Julia was shot in the leg and had to be admitted to the Miguel Couto Municipal Hospital, in Leblon. According to the Municipal Secretary of Health, the health status of the child is stable.
wanted by Brazil Agencythe press office of the State Secretariat of Military Police said that military police officers from the Pacifying Police Coordination (CPP) and the Pacifying Police Unit (UPP) Tabajaras/Cabritos were working in the Morro dos Cabritos and Tabajaras communities.
“During the action, the armored vehicle was moving through the community and armed individuals shot the police teams. One of the UPP bases also suffered criminal attacks. There was no retaliation on the part of the police,” said the Military Police. . “The UPP was informed that a child was injured and had been taken to the UPA in Copacabana, being transferred to the Miguel Couto Municipal Hospital”, he added.
Six cases in Baixada
Of the nine children hit by gunfire this year in Rio, five are girls and four are boys. Maria Julia is the youngest, and the oldest were 11 years old. Two cases occurred during police operations in favelas in the capital – the other occurrence was in Vila Aliança, in Bangu, in the west zone. Of the other seven cases, six were in Baixada Fluminense and one in São Gonçalo.
The first record of a child shot in the Metropolitan Region of Rio in 2023 was that of the boy Juan Davi Souza Faria, aged 11, shot during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Mesquita, in Baixada Fluminense. The boy was on the porch of the house when he was shot and died.
On January 25, 10-year-old Rafaelly da Rocha Vieira was also killed by a stray bullet in the center of São João de Meriti, in the Baixada region. Instituto Fogo Cruzado points out that reports from residents indicate that hooded men invaded the street and started shooting, while Rafaelly was playing with other children.
Three cases occurred in the same episode, when a fight ended in a shootout at the carnival in Magé, in the Baixada. Bryan Rodrigues Horta, six years old, Maria Eduarda Carvalho Martins, nine years old, and João Pedro Marques de Lima, eleven years old, were hit by gunshots, and Maria Eduarda did not resist the injuries.
