Brazilian authorities are investigating 24 execution-style killings in the past 24 hours, following the death of a police officer in the city of Belem, capital of northern Para state.

In a press release, the regional government said it created a special permanent unit, involving all security agencies, to look into the suspicious killings.

The wave of killings began after a member of a tactical police patrol squad, known as Rotam, died in an exchange of gunfire with armed men suspected of having carried out an assault.

At least 24 people have been killed in the city since the incident, all showing signs of having been executed, according to Orlando Salgado, the head of the local forensic bureau, the Legal Medical Institute.

The government acknowledged the possibility that the killings may be linked to the officer's death.

source: Xinhua