Brazil school shooting leaves one dead, another critically injured

The former student entered the Professora Helena Kolody state school purportedly to retrieve some documents and then began shooting, the report said citing Thiago Mossini, spokesperson of city of Cambé.

Mossini said after entering the school building, the former student fired at least a dozen shots before being restrained by a school employee.

The alleged shooter was later arrested by police, Mossini said.

Mossini said the wounded student, a 14-year-old, was reported in critical condition at a hospital.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed “sadness and outrage” at the attack.

“Another young life taken away by hate and violence, something we can no longer tolerate in our schools or our society,” he wrote on Twitter.

Dozens of students gathered outside the school, some crying, as an ambulance approached the gate, images circulating on TV and social media showed.

Brazil has seen almost two dozen attacks or violent episodes in schools since 2000, half of them in the last 14 months.

On April 5, an attack at a daycare centre killed four children and prompted the government to launch an unprecedented crackdown. Some 3,400 police officers carried out a nationwide sweep to round up several hundred people accused of spreading hate speech or stoking school violence.

(With inputs from agencies)

Updated: 19 Jun 2023, 09:38 PM IST