HUNDREDS marched through the narrow streets of one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest slum complexes on Saturday in a peaceful demonstration demanding an end to police violence.

During the four-hour march at the Complexo Alemao, protesters carried banners reading “Less bullets — more love,” and “We don’t want any more deaths.”

Community leaders claimed that over 500 people took part.

Just a day earlier, Complexo Alemao residents had clashed with police at the end of a rally against the fatal shooting of a boy in the shanty town by police.

Ten-year-old Eduardo de Jesus Ferreira was shot dead on Thursday during a police operation against suspected drug traffickers.

His mother, Terezinha Maria de Jesus, said that her son had just been standing at the door of their home when she saw a police officer shoot him.

The police department said that the officers involved in the anti-gang operation had been suspended pending an investigation.

Violence has wracked the Complexo Alemao in recent days with several suspects and bystanders shot as gangs and police exchanged gunfire.

Eduardo’s death was not the only fatality of the police operation. A 41-year-old housewife also died after being hit by a stray bullet last week.

At least two suspected gang members were killed on Wednesday.

But another three people were shot as well, none of whom are believed to have had any connections to gangs.

by Our Foreign Desk