April 5 (Portal) – At least four children were killed and four others injured when a 25-year-old man armed with a small ax attacked a preschool in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina on Wednesday, local police and a hospital called .
Police said the man responsible for the attack in the town of Blumenau has been arrested. Local security chief Marcio Alberto Filippi told reporters the attacker gained entry to the private school by scaling its walls.
[1/2] A view shows coroners, ambulances and police outside a preschool after a 25-year-old man attacked children, killing several and injuring others, according to local police and hospital in Blumenau, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. Brazil April 5, 2023. Portal/Denner Ovidio
The Santo Antonio Hospital in Blumenau said that in addition to the four children killed, four others between the ages of three and five are receiving medical attention.
The attack, which President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called a “monstrosity,” came nearly a week after a 13-year-old student stabbed a teacher and injured five others at a school in Sao Paulo.
“A tragedy like this is unacceptable, an absurd act of hatred and cowardice… an act of violence against innocent and defenseless children,” Lula said in a Twitter post.
Reporting by Fernando Cardoso in Sao Paulo, Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Steven Grattan
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