As my colleague Alexei Barrionuevo reports from Rio de Janeiro in The New York Times today, “over the weekend, in a chilling outburst of violence, drug traffickers wielding what the police say they believe was a large-caliber weapon shot down a police helicopter just one mile from Maracanã Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics will be held and the World Cup soccer final will be played two years before the Olympics.”

The Associated Press obtained these video images — shot by Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão, a Brazilian television network — of the helicopter shooting, which took place on Saturday as Rio’s police force tried to intervene in a battle between rival gangs:

Three of the six officers aboard the helicopter were killed when it crashed and exploded.

Brazil is scheduled to be the host nation for the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016.