Picture released of gunman who killed 13 schoolchildren
A former pupil of a Rio de Janeiro school has killed at least 12 people and injured 22 before turning the gun on himself when police attempted to capture him.
Former student Wellington Menezes de Oliveira broke in to the Municipal School Tasso da Silveira at 8.30am on Thursday morning and shots could be heard for 20 minutes, hitting at least 30 students – aged between 11 and 13 – and staff.
With the arrival of the first team of military police, there was an exchange of gunfire, and Wellington was eported to have been shot in the leg before killing himself. Officials said Wellington arrived at the school under the pretence of giving a speech to students before opening fire with two handguns.
At least nine girls and one boy were killed in the attack, according to reports.
The spokesman for Rio de Janeiro firefighters, Colonel Evan Bezerra, said a total of 13 people are dead. Rio police’s Major Machado said there are 22 people seriously injured in the Albert Schweitzer Hospital. Most suffered shots to the chest and head, he added.
Officials say 24-year-old Wellington left a letter detailing his motives, but the contents of the letter have not been disclosed. However, Brazilian TV station Globo is reporting that the shooter “mentioned Islam as something important in his act.”
The Albert Schweitzer hospital has assembled a room to meet parents and relatives of victims who arrive in a state of shock.
This is Brazil’s first school massacre, and South America’s second. In 2004, A 15-year-old student drew a handgun and opened fire in a school classroom in Carmen de Patagones, southern Argentina, killing four classmates and wounding five.