On April 5, a nursery school in southern Brazil was the scene of horror after a 25-year-old man broke into it and hacked to death four children, in a country where attacks on schools have increased in recent years. .
According to police commissioner Ulisses Gabriel, who is in charge of the investigation, three children, two four-year-olds and one five-year-old, as well as a seven-year-old girl died in a private nursery where there were about 40 children in the municipality of Blumenau. , in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.
The attacker also injured four children from three to five years old who were admitted to the Santo Antônio hospital, where their state of health is reported to be “stable”.
According to police sources quoted by various media outlets, in a “psychotic crisis”, the attacker, who had a history of violence and drugs, jumped over the nursery wall armed with a small ax and began to attack the little ones.
After the massacre, the murderer, whose identity has not been revealed, appeared before the 10th Military Police Battalion, where he was arrested. The Blumenau city council declared official mourning for 30 days and canceled classes in all municipal schools.
Brazil’s president called the attack “monstrous”
Meanwhile, after this new attack on a school that has aroused great commotion in Brazil, through TwitterPresident Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva immediately sent a message of condolences to the families, condemning this “monstrous” act.
There is no greater pain for a family than losing children, or grandchildren, especially in an act of violence against innocent and defenseless children.
Precedents of attacks on schools in recent years
Unfortunately, attacks on educational institutions have increased in Brazil in recent years. According to a report by a group of researchers headed by Daniel Cara, a professor of pedagogy at the University of São Paulo, from 2000 to 2022 there have been 16 attacks or acts of violence in schools.
In 2017, there was also a tragedy at a kindergarten after a man set fire to the educational center, killing nine children and a teacher and injuring around 40 people.
Last November, a 16-year-old boy murdered four people in two schools in Aracruz, in the southeastern state of Espírito Santo. Just last week, a 71-year-old teacher was stabbed to death by a student in São Paulo, the capital of Brazil.