( CNN ) -- A Brazilian cameraman died in a Rio de Janeiro slum while covering a police raid targeting organized drug militias , police said Sunday . Gelson Domingos da Silva , 46 , worked for Band TV , a CNN affiliate . He was filming a large-scale incursion by a Brazilian Special Operations Unit ( BOPE ) into a `` favela , '' the Portuguese word for shantytown , or slum , when he was shot in the chest , Rio de Janeiro police said in a statement . `` The Military Police deeply regrets the death of cameraman , Gelson Domingos da Silva , while expressing the most sincere sympathy to the family and all media professionals , '' police said . According to a Band TV press release , da Silva was covering the operation in the Antares favela , west of Rio , as an `` embedded '' photographer with Rio police . Da Silva was wearing a bullet-proof vest certified by the Brazilian Armed Forces , often used by Band employees during these types of assignments , Band TV said . He was taken to a local emergency hospital but did not survive the gunshot wounds , Band TV reported . Rio de Janeiro police said the operation began early Sunday morning after intelligence reports indicated that drug lords and heavily armed groups were gathering at that site . Police said four alleged drug dealers were killed in the operation , and weapons and drugs were seized . Dramatic images of da Silva 's last moments are being shown in Brazilian media , reminding Brazilians of how dangerous it has become for journalists to cover the drug war . The Committee to Protect Journalists has `` documented an alarming rise in lethal violence ( against journalists ) in Brazil in 2011 , '' the group said on its website . `` Four other Brazilian journalists have been killed this year , and a blogger shot and wounded , '' CPJ reported . `` While Brazilian authorities have had success in prosecuting journalist murders , winning several convictions in recent years , the country still sees persistent anti-press violence . The October 2010 murder of a muckraking radio reporter became the country 's fifth unsolved case in the past decade , '' CPJ reported . CNN 's Marilia Brocchetto contributed to this report .
A Brazilian cameraman died while filming a gun battle between police and alleged drug dealers . Police launched a massive operation in a slum in Rio de Janeiro . CPJ : There 's been an increase in violence against journalists in Brazil .