Marlene Maria da Conceicao was shot yesterday in the neck in the doorway of her home in the Mangueira slum. Neighbours told The Associated Press that her 42-year-old daughter, Ana Cristina da Conceicao, was hit when she tried to help her mother.
After the deaths, residents began protesting, blocking roads and burning a bus.
Military police were conducting an operation when the firefight began. It wasn't immediately clear whether the stray bullets came from shots by police or traffickers.