Taste of 2016 Olympics: Rio gangs shoot down police

RIO DE JANEIRO – Drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter during a gunbattle between rival gangs Saturday, killing two officers and injuring four in a burst of violence just two weeks after the city was chosen to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

Ten suspected drug traffickers were also killed during the fighting in a shantytown, and two bystanders were injured, officials said.

Bullets flying from the Morro dos Macacos (“Monkey Hill” in Portuguese) slum in northern Rio de Janeiro tore into the helicopter and hit the pilot in the leg as he hovered above the shootout, causing him to lose control and crash.

Two officers died, while the pilot and three other policemen escaped after the craft hit the ground on a football field and burst into flames. The pilot and a second officer suffered burns and bullet wounds. The other two officers also were burned, one gravely, said Mario Sergio Duarte, head of Rio state’s military police.

Officials did not know whether the gangs targeted the helicopter or whether it was hit by stray bullets, but the event underscored security concerns that have dogged Brazil’s second-largest city for decades.

Despite the mayhem, officials defended Rio’s ability to control violence ahead of the Olympics as well as before 2014, when Brazil will host the World Cup soccer tournament with key games in Rio.

“In choosing the city, they already knew about the work that’s being carried out and will continue in the area of (crime) prevention,” Justice Minister Tarso Genro told the state-run Agencia Brasil news agency.

Rio state Gov. Sergio Cabral grimly told reporters that Rio’s security challenges can’t be cured “by magic in the short term,” but he said money is being poured into programs to reduce crime and authorities are prepared to mount an overwhelming security presence at the sporting events to ensure safety.

“We told the International Olympic Committee that this won’t be an easy thing, and they know that,” Cabral said. “We can put 40,000 people on the streets – federal, state and municipal police – and pull off the event.”

Duarte said it was unlikely that traffickers fired an anti-aircraft missile at the helicopter, though such weapons have been found in the hideouts of Rio’s drug traffickers along with other heavy, military-grade arms such as grenade launchers and .50-caliber machine guns.

The pilot was able to make a somewhat controlled, though extremely rough landing, which would have been unlikely if the aircraft had been hit by a heavy weapon, Duarte said.

Police said 10 presumed traffickers were killed during the fighting in the slum. (AP)