Helicopter downed in Rio violence; two police dead

Helicopter downed in Rio violence; two police dead

uk.reuters.com

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Suspected drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter and set fire to five buses and a school in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, killing two policemen, police and media said.

It is one of the worst recent outbreaks of violence in Rio and comes two weeks after the city was awarded the 2016 Olympic Games, despite worries over its high levels of violence and poor security.

Traffickers set fire to the buses in response to a police operation against them, the O Globo network said on its website, which showed pictures of the destroyed helicopter and buses on fire. It

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Blimey... they shot down a helicopter..

Is this the next stage of tactics against the police?
Will this method spread seeing as helicopters have been used by the police in almost every country for years now?

It was just time that was stopping this from happening really.. It's one of those things that are bound to happen sooner or later.. The more 'high-tech' the police get, the mor clever and determined those who oppose the police will become.

Is this the first of many more similar events to come and where does this leave this country in regards to the 2016 Olympic games?

uk.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

It's in Portuguese, but this page has two videos of these events.

It looks like it was a battle between two drug gangs.

Helicopters are fragile. A determined kid with an air rifle can knock one down if he hits it just right. Golden BB is a fact, not a theory.

And this is where they want to hold the 2016 Olympics? Wow, the IOC is so retarded ... they should have chosen Madrid or Chicago - cities in 1st world nations where the government actually controls their own cities and can properly secure a major international event.

maybe this could be added as another sport in their olympics. contact the international body and see if brazil could get permission. i know...skeet shooting on steriods!!! or GUNS GONE WILD!!! new reality show from brazil.

Originally posted by ChrisF231
And this is where they want to hold the 2016 Olympics? Wow, the IOC is so retarded ... they should have chosen Madrid or Chicago - cities in 1st world nations where the government actually controls their own cities and can properly secure a major international event.

hey, if china can provide dirty air, foul water, and vomit-inducing food...surely a few dropped helicopters are no problem. besides look at the goodwill it will generate for gun manufactures.

The Rio slums are some of the poorest and most crime ridden in the world. When Mexico City hosted the Olympic Games a couple of decades ago it was facing the same problem. Mexico City simply built a huge wall around the slum areas to segregate them from the Olympic Village and Olympic Competition and Hotel areas.

Brazil will likely do the same thing since the shanties and the people who live in them are far too numerous to clean up and tear down. They will wall off the slums and focus their main efforts on beautifying the parts of the city that will be officially involved in the games.

Walling off the slums will virtually allow them to imprison the people who live inside of them many of whom are pick pockets and chain snatchers and effectively restrict their movement throughout the city in that fashion.

Rio is a vibrant and fun city that attracts tourists and other visitors from all over the world.

I predict the Games will go off without a hitch and most if not all the visitors will have a wonderful time there.

reply to post by ArMaP


Thanks for sorting that Armap.

Even if it is two drug gangs battling it out, many of us know who actually supports, supplies and organises these gangs..

Is this a mere publicity stunt? Is this a method to increase the grip on 'terrorists'? Will the law now start to change to encapsulate more 'criminal activity' as being a terrorist threat?

As fart as it becoming another sport, then it might be as popular as the UK issued ASBO's (anti social beahviour order) that most teens seem to get these days. It's almost a badge of honour for them..

With all the tv shows of police 'chasing and catching' crimianls with the use of helicopters, this may now start to turn tables and we might see more choppers and coppers shot down.

It wont take toomuch imagination and creativity for it to happen and many are equipped to do so.

Originally posted by ChrisF231
And this is where they want to hold the 2016 Olympics?

Maybe that is what this is actually about?

Causing so much conflict in Rio in order to get them OFF the list?

I wonder who would be behind that??

Perhaps helicopter downing with BB guns will be the new Olympic sport in Rio.
Their poor slum children could cash in their gold medals and feed their deprived families.

Officers in the US should pay attention to stories like these and keep them in mind when they're patrolling the streets.

There has been an increasing "climate change" in how officers are perceived to behave in this country, that could result in similar things happening here, as are happening in Brazil or even Mexico.

When you beef up one side of a fight, it is really naive to expect the other side isn't going to get rougher, too. It just gets rougher and rougher and rougher. Until someone is the bigger man and backs off, and shows some respect. It has to be MUTUAL.

reply to post by Extralien


I don't think there will be any "terrorist" link in any way, they are used to this kind of thing in Rio de Janeiro and there isn't any terrorist "tradition".

Apparently this was a battle between two gangs, one of the gangs went to the other's territory and, around 4 AM (local time), the shooting started. The helicopter was the in area when it was shot down, and while doing an emergency landing on a soccer field it exploded, killing two police men and injuring other two.

Some guys from, I think, the attacking gang stopped some buses and burned them, and the authorities think that the idea was to shift the attentions from what was happening in the area that was the centre of the attack, a local resident said that it looked like a civil war, and another that the children were so scared with the sound of the guns firing all around the house that they wanted to get out.

The shooting has been going on all day (at least the last time I read about it, some 4 or 5 hours ago).

And I don't think this will affect the Olympic Games, for two reasons. One, although not easy, they can control the locations and the movements of the athletes and delegates; two, if it's an international event the gangs can make a temporary truce (I think this happened before) to avoid a bad publicity for Brazil. After all, they may be drug lords but that does not mean that they are not patriots.