Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian police have launched a probe following the release of a video purportedly showing elite officers shooting a man who had apparently turned himself in.
The footage, published on Saturday by the magazine Extra, allegedly documents an incident on May 23 during an operation in the west of Rio de Janeiro.
Police said the officers in question would be brought to justice if the scenes prove to be true.
The video purportedly shows two officers from the elite CORE unit firing two shots in the Itanhanga neighbourhood during a special operation targeting drug dealers.
A man is seen raising his arms and sitting down on the sidewalk with his hands on his head. Shortly thereafter, shots are heard and the man is seen lying on the ground.
Globo News reported that the man who made the video said the deceased -- identified as Allysson Fernando da Silva -- had died at the hands of the police.
The police operation resulted in the seizure of weapons and ammunition, as well as seven arrests.
At the time, the police officers in question had registered the death as a "case of armed conflict," claiming the deceased -- with no criminal background -- had a gun and drugs in his backpack.
In 2012, CORE officers were accused of forging cases of armed conflict in the Rola favela.
