Greater Rio de Janeiro Sees January 149% Increase in Deaths Over Preceding Month

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The first month of 2021 has begun with more violence than late 2020 in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. In all, the Fogo Cruzado platform recorded 412 gunfire/firearm shootings, 35% more than in December 2020, when there were 306 shootings.

The number of dead and injured in these shootings was also higher in January. In all, 206 people were shot in the metropolitan area: 107 died and 99 were injured. There was a 149% rise in the number of deaths and an 83% increase in the number of wounded compared to the preceding month, when 43 people died and 54 were wounded.

Despite the increase in the armed violence indicators over December, if compared with early 2020, when the country was not faced with the coronavirus pandemic, there was a 4% drop in records: in January 2020 there were 430 shootings. The number of shootings with the involvement of security agents also fell by 12%: of the 412 shootings in Greater Rio in January 2021, 127 of them had agents involved. In the same period in 2020, there were 144 records with the presence of agents.

There was also a 9% drop in the number of deaths compared to the same month in 2020, when, of the 211 people shot, 118 died and 93 were injured.

With 224 officially recorded, Rio de Janeiro was the municipality with the highest number of gunfire/firearm related shootings, accounting for 55% of the total accumulated in the metropolitan region (412). Next came São Gonçalo (71), Belford Roxo (31), Duque de Caxias (24) and Niterói (16). In second place in the ranking among the Greater Rio municipalities with the most shootings, São Gonçalo tied with Rio in the number of deaths (31) .

January 22nd and 23rd were the days with the highest number of shootings in the month: with 24 each. January 12th saw the highest number of deaths (12) and January 7th recorded the highest number of wounded (8).

Vila Kennedy, the leading neighborhood in shootings throughout 2020, 2019 and 2018, remained ranked first among the Greater Rio neighborhoods with the highest number of shootings in January. There were 29 records, almost twice as many as the second placed Quintino Bocaiúva (17). Next come Complexo do Alemão (12), Pauline, in Belford Roxo (10), and Madureira (10).

January recorded 51 shootings in areas with Pacifying Police Unit (UPP). In 16 of these shootings, law enforcement agents were involved. In all, seven people were killed and five were injured in these areas. Complexo do Alemão (12), Andaraí (11) and Turano (4) were the areas with the highest number of shootings.

The Northern Zone of Rio, with 130 records, accounted for 32% of the total number of gunfire/firearm related incidents in Greater Rio in January (412). The Metropolitan East (95), Baixada Fluminense (93), West Zone (70), Downtown (19) and Southern Zone (5) came next. In second place in the ranking of the regions with the highest number of shootings, the Metropolitan East saw the highest number of gunfire involving law enforcement agents (46), deaths (42) and wounded (37).

2021 began its first month with a 50% rise in the number of killings: there were six in January, with 23 deaths in total. In four of them law enforcement agents were involved. In the same period of 2020 there were four cases that totaled 14 deaths, with agents present in all of them.

A total of 15 law enforcement agents were shot in Greater Rio in January: five of them died. Among the dead, all were off duty. Among the wounded, six were on duty and four were off duty. In January 2020, the number of agents shot was roughly the same: of the 16 shot, seven died. Among the dead, four were off duty and one was retired. Among the wounded, four were on duty and five were off duty.

Eleven were victims of stray bullets in Greater Rio in January 2021: four did not survive. In January 2020, 19 people were shot by stray bullets, 13 of them survived.

In January 2021, three children (under 12 years of age), four teenagers (between 12 and 17 years of age) and three seniors (aged 60 and over) were shot in Greater Rio de Janeiro. In January 2020, four children, five adolescents and six seniors were shot: of these, one child, two adolescents and five seniors died.

When comparing the month of January between the years 2017 to 2020, January 2021, with 412 records, registered the second lowest number of shootings, ahead only of January 2017, when there were 283 records. With respect to deaths, January 2021, with 107 records, also saw the second lowest number of victims, ahead only of the same period in 2017, with 103. With respect to wounded, January 2021, with 99 records, was ahead only when compared to the same period in 2020, with 93 wounded.