13-year-old suspect kills two at Brazil school, authorities say identity not released

A teenage boy shot dead two staff members and injured two other people, including a student, at a school in northeast Brazil on Tuesday, prompting panicked students to try to escape over a wall, authorities and a witness said.

A 13-year-old boy was arrested over the attack at Sao Jose Institute in Rio Branco, the capital of Acre state, the local government said in a statement.

Eduardo Rodrigues Cavalcante, who works as a receptionist at a hotel adjacent to the school, told AFP that when the shooting began, some students tried to jump over a wall separating the school from the hotel.

“The wall is six meters high, and only one person managed to jump over and take refuge here in the hotel. The other people were left on the school roof trying to escape,” the 19-year-old receptionist said, adding that he heard “gunshots and a lot of screaming.”

Images released by a local media outlet showed a woman being evacuated on a stretcher and people crying and hugging each other outside the school.

It was not yet clear whether the attacker was a current or former pupil at the school.

His legal guardian, who owned the firearm allegedly used in the attack, was also arrested, authorities said.

Acre police launched an investigation into the attack.

“In the face of this tragedy, the state expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the victims, the school community of the Sao Jose Institute, and all education professionals affected by this event,” the state government said.

It added that classes had been suspended for three days at all schools in the state and that psychological support teams had been mobilized to offer assistance to students and teachers.

Brazil has seen an increase in school attacks in recent years, resulting in dozens of deaths.

AFP