A 25‑year‑old attacker burst into a preschool in southern Brazil on Wednesday, killing four children with a bladed weapon before turning himself in to police, authorities said. The incident occurred at the private Good Shepherd Center in the city of Blumenau, Santa Catarina. Police and state officials reported that the man also wounded four other victims during the morning attack. After the shooting, he surrendered at a state police station and was arrested, according to a police statement.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned the “monstrosity,” writing on Twitter that “there is no greater pain than a family that loses children or grandchildren, even more so when it is in an act of violence against innocent and defenseless children.” He added that his thoughts and prayers were with the victims’ families. Images from Brazilian news site G1 showed emergency workers and police outside the preschool, with dozens of people waiting behind a security cordon. An officer asked the crowd to remain calm, noting that only parents were being allowed inside.
A state government source confirmed to AFP that the four victims were children: three boys and one girl, aged between five and seven years. The weapon used resembled a hatchet, according to Brazilian media reports. Santa Catarina Governor Jorginho Mello declared three days of mourning for the “terrible” attack.
Violence in Brazilian schools has been rising in recent years. Last week, a 13‑year‑old boy killed a teacher in a knife attack at a school in São Paulo. In November, a 16‑year‑old shooter killed four people and wounded more than ten in twin attacks on two schools in Aracruz, Espírito Santo. The country’s deadliest school shooting occurred in 2011, when a man opened fire at his former elementary school in the Rio de Janeiro suburb of Realengo, killing 12 children before taking his own life.
Preschools have also been targets of deadly violence. In 2017, a guard at a preschool in Janaúba doused a group of children and himself with alcohol and set them on fire, killing nine children and a teacher and wounding around 40 others; the guard, who suffered from “mental problems,” also died. In 2021, an 18‑year‑old man killed three young children and two employees in a knife attack on a preschool in Saudades, Santa Catarina—the same state where Wednesday’s attack occurred.
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