four children were killed in this Wednesday ax attack by a person who broke into a nursery in Blumenauin the south of Brazil, a “monstrosity” that shocked the South American country.

The attack that took place in the morning also injured four children, who were hospitalized. All victims were between 3 and 7 years old.Ulisses Gabriel, chief of the Santa Catarina Civil Police, explained at a press conference.

The 25-year-old assailant “jumped over the wall” of the private daycare Cantinho Bom Pastor “with a white weapon, such as an axe. He beat the children, especially in the region of the head,” Diogo de Souza Clarindo of the fire department told the media. Witnesses reported that he committed the massacre on the patio.

The assailant, a resident of Santa Catarina and with a criminal record, later turned himself in to the military police headquarters, where He had been arrested.

“I thank God for all the moments I lived with my son,” said Bruno Bridi, father of 5-year-old Bernardo, who died in the attack, in front of the nursery.

“Today he arrived at the nursery to imitate a bunny with his friend. I will make every one of those moments worth itsaid Bridi in tears.

The injured, two 5-year-old girls and two boys aged 3 and 5, “are stable (…), will be observed for at least 24 hours” after undergoing surgery under anesthesia, the Santo Antonio de Blumenau Hopital . .

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Authorities reported that there were about 40 children in the establishment at the time of the attack.

The attacker acted in an “isolated” manner, according to Gabriel, who ruled out a “coordinated act”.

He had at least four police records since 2016, including stabbing his stepfather and possession of cocaine. Authorities will investigate your mobile phone and social media activity.

shocked’

A teacher, Simone Aparecida Camargo, noted that she locked several students in a bathroom to protect them, the site said. metropolises.

The classmates saw the attacker, who “went to the patio to kill,” the teacher added.

André Nazario said his wife, another employee of the establishment, told him that after the attacker left, “he went to the patio, saw the (dead) children and tried to resuscitate one of them, without success. I was in shock”.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned “the monstrosity” that took place on Twitter: “A tragedy like this is unacceptable (…), an absurd act of hatred and cowardice.”

After meeting with Lula, Justice Minister Flávio Dino announced that the national government will allocate 150 million reais (about $29 million) to municipalities to strengthen security in schools.

The nursery promised to work “tirelessly” to clarify the facts “and demand the harshest penalties”.

The deaths of these children, “all only children”, leave “a mark on the history of Blumenau”, said Mário Hildebrandt, mayor of this city of 360,000 inhabitants, where school classes and Easter celebrations have been suspended.

Santa Catarina Governor Jorginho Mello has declared three days of official mourning.

Local authorities are working on a prevention and emergency plan for violence in schools, they reported at the press conference.

repeated tragedies

The number of attacks on schools in Brazil has increased in recent years.

On March 27, a 13-year-old teenager killed a 71-year-old teacher with a knife and injured five people at a school in Sao Paulo.

Last November, a 16-year-old teenager killed four people and wounded more than a dozen in two attacks on schools in the city of Aracruz, in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo.

In May 2021, also in Santa Catarina, an attack committed by an 18-year-old armed with a knife killed three children under the age of 2 and two teachers in a kindergarten in the municipality of Saudades.

Brazil’s deadliest attack ever occurred in 2011: Twelve children were killed when a man opened fire at their former primary school in Realengo, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, before committing suicide.