Crime
Brazil school shooting leaves at least 1 dead
This is the latest incident of school violence that Brazil has witnessed in recent months. There have been at least two dozen attacks in schools since 2000, with half of them taking place over the last year and a half
June 20, 2023 12:09am
Updated: June 20, 2023 12:09am
A gunman opened fire at a school in Brazil’s southern state of Parana on Monday, killing one student and injuring another, authorities said.
The shooter, a former student of the Professora Helena Kolody state school, entered the school building to allegedly retrieve some documents, city of Cambe spokesperson Thiago Mossini told The Associated Press.
After being let into the building, the gunman, aged 20 or 21, began shooting. He was eventually restrained by a school employee and later arrested by police, Mossini said.
A video shot by one of the students inside the school shows students huddled down under desks as gunshots are heard in the background. Other videos show students gathered outside of the school, crying.
🟠ATAQUE A TIROS EM ESCOLA NO PARANÁ | Momentos de tensão de alunos trancados dentro de sala de aula durante ataque ao Colégio Estadual Helena Kolody, em Cambé, Paraná, que deixou uma aluna morta e uma aluno gravemente ferido.
— Explora Notícias (@ExploraNoticias) June 19, 2023
Notícias Brasil violência polícia terrorismo pic.twitter.com/bxQnqTAw9I
The student who died was identified as a 16-year-old girl. A 17-year-old male student was wounded by the gunshots during the incident. The student was rushed to the University Hospital of Londrina, where he remains in critical condition and is too fragile to be transported to the surgery room at the moment.
“It’s my birthday today, we usually stay together all day on my birthday, and then... today I couldn’t in the morning,” said the student's father, Rodrigo Augusto.
This is the latest incident of school violence that Brazil has witnessed in recent months. There have been at least two dozen attacks in schools since 2000, with half of them taking place over the last year and a half.
On April 5, a man entered a daycare center in southern Brazil, killing four children playing in the facility’s playground with an ax. In March, a suspect stabbed five people and killed another in a school in Sao Paulo.
“Yet another young life taken away by the hatred and violence we can no longer tolerate within our schools and society,” President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said about the latest attack on Twitter on Monday.
