Three people killed in shooting at Brazilian schools, suspect detained
- last year
Police forces detained the suspect in an attack on two schools on Friday (November 25) that left three dead and at least ten injured in the city of Aracruz in Espirito Santo, the local government said in a statement.
"State security forces, along with forces from other entities, have already found the alleged perpetrator of this barbaric crime." "The motives for the crime are being duly investigated," the authorities said.
According to the state governor, Renato Casagrande, the suspect in the shooting is a minor, a former student of one of the schools, and the son of a policeman. As he is under 18, he was detained, but he cannot be arrested.
The governor said that it is not yet possible to determine, based on the testimonies collected so far from the young man and his father, a motive for the action, which he said was organised.
"It was an action planned by someone who has a mental problem, but with that mental problem, he took the lives of three people and shot ten others," Casagrande told CNN Brazil.
"The debate on mental health is fundamental; the debate on access to guns is fundamental," the state governor defended, noting that in the last four years there has been a loosening of the rules for access to guns.
The attacks occurred at Primo Bitti State Elementary and Secondary School and a public school shortly after 9 a.m., Casagrande said, and were perpetrated by the boy armed with a pistol and a revolver. The minor was wearing military clothing and also carried the swastika symbol, which may denote links to neo-Nazi or neo-fascist groups in Brazil or abroad.
At the first school, Primo Bitti, the boy allegedly broke the lock on a secondary gate, entering a few metres from the staff room, which was full because it was break time.
According to the governor of Espirito Santo, he shot ten teachers on the spot, two of whom died on the spot, and three others are hospitalised with more serious injuries.
Following that, the suspect went to a public school about a kilometre away and shot three more children aged 10 to 12, killing one of them.
In a note of sympathy, the state government expressed solidarity with the families and friends of the victims of the attack and declared three days of mourning.
PARENT OF STUDENT, JORGE, SAYING:
"I came quickly and got here and took my daughter, the daughter of a friend of mine and another (student) who asked me for help. I put them all in the car and we drove away. That's what I could do and half the way they said it was a firecracker and jumped into the fence (of the school) and ended up in the square. I picked them up in the square and rescued them, that's it.”
LOCAL POLICE, JOÃO FRANCISCO, SAYING:
"When he (suspect) was committing the act it (swastika) was on his clothes but he kept it in his house at another place. We seized this symbol (swastika) in his house. We saw everything there, the clothes he wore, the weapons he used, the objects, the knives, everything.”
"State security forces, along with forces from other entities, have already found the alleged perpetrator of this barbaric crime." "The motives for the crime are being duly investigated," the authorities said.
According to the state governor, Renato Casagrande, the suspect in the shooting is a minor, a former student of one of the schools, and the son of a policeman. As he is under 18, he was detained, but he cannot be arrested.
The governor said that it is not yet possible to determine, based on the testimonies collected so far from the young man and his father, a motive for the action, which he said was organised.
"It was an action planned by someone who has a mental problem, but with that mental problem, he took the lives of three people and shot ten others," Casagrande told CNN Brazil.
"The debate on mental health is fundamental; the debate on access to guns is fundamental," the state governor defended, noting that in the last four years there has been a loosening of the rules for access to guns.
The attacks occurred at Primo Bitti State Elementary and Secondary School and a public school shortly after 9 a.m., Casagrande said, and were perpetrated by the boy armed with a pistol and a revolver. The minor was wearing military clothing and also carried the swastika symbol, which may denote links to neo-Nazi or neo-fascist groups in Brazil or abroad.
At the first school, Primo Bitti, the boy allegedly broke the lock on a secondary gate, entering a few metres from the staff room, which was full because it was break time.
According to the governor of Espirito Santo, he shot ten teachers on the spot, two of whom died on the spot, and three others are hospitalised with more serious injuries.
Following that, the suspect went to a public school about a kilometre away and shot three more children aged 10 to 12, killing one of them.
In a note of sympathy, the state government expressed solidarity with the families and friends of the victims of the attack and declared three days of mourning.
PARENT OF STUDENT, JORGE, SAYING:
"I came quickly and got here and took my daughter, the daughter of a friend of mine and another (student) who asked me for help. I put them all in the car and we drove away. That's what I could do and half the way they said it was a firecracker and jumped into the fence (of the school) and ended up in the square. I picked them up in the square and rescued them, that's it.”
LOCAL POLICE, JOÃO FRANCISCO, SAYING:
"When he (suspect) was committing the act it (swastika) was on his clothes but he kept it in his house at another place. We seized this symbol (swastika) in his house. We saw everything there, the clothes he wore, the weapons he used, the objects, the knives, everything.”