Police, gangs wage gun battle in Rio slum

Rio is plagued by crime fueled in large part by fighting between heavily armed drug trafficking gangs

Brazilian police and drug traffickers fought a pitched gun battle in one of Rio's many slums, triggering panic in the nearby Copacabana and Ipanema tourist areas.

One officer and two drug gang members were wounded in the clash in the Pavao-Pavaozinho shantytown, police said yesterday.

Police called in reinforcements and the fight dragged into the afternoon.

The website G1, owned by the O Globo group, reported that one of the wounded traffickers died and that five were arrested.

The shootout began when police tried to enter the slum early Monday, G1 said.

As of 3:00 pm (Local Time), shots could still be heard and a military helicopter flew overhead.

Passersby and cars sped up as they drove past the slum, and some people said they heard grenade blasts.

Stores pulled down their metal shutters and one entrance to a subway stop in Ipanema shut down, news reports said.

Rio, a city of 6.5 million, is plagued by crime fueled in large part by fighting between heavily armed drug trafficking gangs.

The government deployed 85,000 police and soldiers during this summer's Olympics in Rio — twice the number used in the 2012 Summer Games in London.