Five people died Tuesday in a shootout between police and gangs in a slum on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, police was quoted by Deutsche Presse Agentur as saying. According to the authorities, one police agent and four suspected criminals were killed, while another policeman and two civilians were injured. The police operation sought to confiscate weapons and drugs and to arrest a drug boss in the slum neighbourhood Alemao, one of the most violent in Rio de Janeiro. The shooting took place just one day after a 12-year-old girl was killed in crossfire between police and drug dealers in the slum Morro dos Macacos.
