MAURO PIMENTEL
Homemaker Kelly Cristina Pereira da Silva (L), 40 - whose son was killed last year by stray bullets - prays with a friend to prepare for an interview with AFP in the Manguinhos favela or shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 10, 2017. - On March 9, 2016, her son Caio Daniel, 14, was killed by stray bullets on a football field next to his house when he was caught in the middle of a firefight between police and traffickers; his mother braved the shooting to try to rescue her son.
Construction worker Jose Luis Farias da Silva, 56, carries a statue of his two-year-old son Maicon - who was killed by a stray bullet in 1996 while playing outside his house - through the streets of the Complexo do Amarelinho favela or shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 28, 2017. - On April 15, 1996, his two-year-old son Maicon was playing in the street in front of their house when he was killed by a bullet fired by a policeman pursuing drug trafficking suspects. Jose has spent the last two decades trying to see justice done. The official report declared that his toddler son was ìresisting, making him a legitimate target in an act of self-defense by the police.
Baby-sitter Telma Silva de Assis, 39, speaks with AFP inside her house surrounded by family members in the Manguinhos favela or shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 26, 2017. - Telma is no stranger to violence. Her father was murdered when she was just 11, forcing her to leave school and start working. And in August 2011, her sister Nilma was killed by a stray bullet as she left a church in Manguinhos.
Teresinha Amaro, 52, kindergarten teacher, plays the "pandeiro" (Brazilian tambourine) at her home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 18, 2017. - On May 3, 2016, the nursery where Teresinha worked was caught in a shootout between police and drug traffickers, she was struck in the femoral artery and miraculously survived. She is on sick leave today, still having difficulty to walk and suffering panic attacks whenever she hears a bang.
Jorgiane Novaes, 48, assists her sister, city councillor Luciana Novaes, 34, who is quadriplegic and uses a breathing device, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 8, 2017. - On May 5, 2003, Luciana was hit by a bullet while in the canteen at her university. The injury left her with no movement from the neck to feet. The shot was fired during a clash between police and drug traffickers in the favela overlooking the university. In 2016 she was elected to the city council.
A boy plays basketball at Daniel Piza Municipal School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 8, 2017, in the same courtyard where late student Maria Eduarda Alves, 13, was killed by stray bullets on March 30, 2017. On March 30, 2017, Alves' daughter Maria Eduarda, 13, was playing basketball at school when she was killed by three stray bullets fired by policemen while they chased suspects outside the school. The two officers were charged with Maria's murder.The most brutal face of the economically collapsed city of Rio is reflected in the growing number of victims of stray bullets, the product of clashes between police and traffickers. AFP's "Stray bullets" project tells some of the victims' stories.
Felipe Amaral, 34, a policeman, and his wife Erica Amaral, 34, who is a Rio government employee, pose for a portrait with their daughter photo in the background in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 15, 2017. His daughter Sofia Lara, 02, was shot dead during a family dinner at a popular restaurant on January 21, 2017. Their daughter was in the play area while they ate. A police car chasing a suspect drove past and they heard a single shot. When they ran over to the playground area they found their daughter lying covered in blood. The Amarals rushed Sofia to hospital but she was already dead.
Leandro Monteiro, father of Vanessa, 10 years old, killed by a stray bullet in July 2017 during an interview for AFP, on July 27, 2017. Leandro was the first interview of the the project "Balas Perdidas". The most brutal face of the economically collapsed city of Rio is reflected in the growing number of victims of stray bullets, the product of clashes between police and traffickers. AFP's "Stray bullets" project tells some of the victims' stories.
Photo composition showing portraits of relatives of victims or survivors of stray bullets - which frequently kill innocent bystanders in the midst of an undeclared war between drug dealers and the police - who spoke with the AFP project Stray Bullets. The most brutal face of the economically collapsed city of Rio is reflected in the growing number of victims of stray bullets, the product of clashes between police and traffickers. AFP's "Stray bullets" project tells some of the victims' stories.