Lunae Parracho / Reuters

Striking police officers gesture in front of the Legislative Assembly that they are occupying in protest, in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, on Feb. 7, 2012.

Christophe Simon / AFP - Getty Images

Soldiers stand guard outside the Legislative Assembly building on Feb. 6, 2012.

The Associated Press reports from SAO PAULO: 

Lunae Parracho / Reuters

An army armored vehicle patrols Paralela avenue in Salvador on Feb. 5, 2012.

Soldiers clashed with supporters of striking police in Brazil's third-largest city on Monday, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the feet of people trying to join officers occupying the Bahia state legislature building.

The murder rate in Salvador has more than doubled since the strike began a week ago — but violence has quickly diminished since troops were sent in over the weekend.

Officials said the soldiers are at the building seeking to arrest 11 of the police officers holed up there. They are wanted for allegedly organizing roving gangs to loot stores and of robbing police cars last week, in what Gov. Jaques Wagner said was an effort to spread panic among the population. 

Calm has mostly been restored since 2,000 soldiers and 600 elite federal police were sent into the city Saturday, with murders dropping below normal levels. Read the full story.

Lunae Parracho / Reuters

Striking police officers give gestures of support from outside the Legislative Assembly to their colleagues who are occupying the building, on Feb. 6, 2012.

Lunae Parracho / Reuters

A soldier patrols next to a homeless man sleeping in Salvador on Feb. 5, 2012.

Lunae Parracho / Reuters

Residents watch as men carry the body of a woman who was shot dead in the Sao Marcos neighborhood on Feb. 5, 2012.