Against the backdrop of unrest in Brazil, police got into a massive shoot out with alleged drug dealers in a Rio de Janeiro Favela, resulting in nine deaths.

It started with a smaller, peaceful protest that was in-line with the larger demonstrations that have taken place in Brazil over the past couple of weeks.  But the troublemakers came out at the end.  TV news showed live video of dozens of suspected gang members running amok in the Bonsucesso area, blocking traffic and randomly robbing people as they tried to walk peacefully through their impoverished community.

That brought a response of hundreds of police and National Guard officers, supported by a tank from the Special Operations Batallion, deployed to secure the area.  The bullets flew.

One police officer and eight of the alleged gang members were killed in the melee.  Cops say they confiscated drugs and weapons from the suspects.

The da Mare and Nova Holanda favelas of the Bonsucessu area have not yet been part of the Rio Police’s pre-World Cup pacification program, which promotes occupation of shanty towns to push out drug trafficking gangs.  Schools in the area remained closed on Tuesday.