By Maira Magro
The morning of Jan. 24, a helicopter for TV Globo was shot at three times as it attempted to film images of a police operation in a favela, or shanty town, in northern Río de Janeiro, reported Bom Dia Brasil. The shots to the base, center and tail of the aircraft forced the pilot to make an emergency landing at a nearby airport.
According to the newspaper O Globo, in the helicopter were pilot Antonio Ramos, reporter Karina Borges and systems operator Roberto Mello Reis. No one was hurt.
During the police operation, the police station in Río de Janeiro also was fired on, with shots directed at a police helicopter. According to Terra, police said the operation was part of the fight against drug trafficking and involved the participation of about 150 agentes.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
