Rio off-duty cop is 100th officer to be killed this year as Olympic city fights gang menace

Military police on Sunday buried the 100th officer to be killed in Rio de Janeiro state this year, a 39-year-old who was shot multiple times while off duty and visiting his father.

The grim milestone underscores a surge in violence in Rio, Brazil’s signature city that just a year ago hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics. Authorities acknowledged in recent months that drug trafficking organisations and other criminal gangs now control large areas of the city. Thousands of soldiers have been deployed to help police, but even their presence has not slowed the bloodshed.

A sense of desperation could be felt among the 200 people who attended the funeral for Sergeant Fabio Cavalcante on Sunday afternoon. Cavalcante’s wife was so distraught that she could barely walk during the procession and had to be held up by the fallen officer’s brother, himself a part of the force.

Cavalcante, the father of an 8-year-old, was killed Saturday in Baixada Fluminense, one of Rio’s most violent districts. Several armed men approached, apparently intending to rob him. When they learned he was a police officer, he was shot at least 10 times, his father, who Cavalcante was visiting, told local media.

“We were supposed to have a picnic today with the wives and widows of police officers,” said Rogeria Quaresma, the wife of an officer in attendance.