8 killed in mass shooting in southern Brazil school

[Judi Lynn]

Mauricio Savarese and Anna Jean Kaiser, Associated Press Updated 12:31 pm CDT, Wednesday, March 13, 2019

SUZANO, Brazil (AP) — Two young men wearing hoods and carrying guns, knives and crossbows opened fire at a school in southern Brazil on Wednesday, killing eight people before taking their own lives, authorities said.

The dead included six students and two teachers, and several other people were hospitalized with injuries, according to Gov. Joao Doria, speaking a few blocks from the public school in Suzano, a suburb of Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city.

The attackers appeared to be in their early to mid-20s, and authorities don't believe they were former students, the governor said.

. . .

President Jair Bolsonaro ran on a platform that included promises to crack down on criminals, in part by expanding public access to guns. Soon after being inaugurated Jan. 1, Bolsonaro issued a decree making it easier for people wanting a gun to buy and possess one.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/education/article/Police-say-multiple-shots-fired-at-public-school-13684958.php

[Judi Lynn]

1. Inspired by Columbine, Brazil pair kill eight and themselves in school shooting

MARCH 13, 2019 / 8:37 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Lais Martins
5 MIN READ

SUZANO, Brazil (Reuters) - Two former students opened fire at a Brazilian school on Wednesday and killed at least five teenagers as well as two school officials before committing suicide in an attack that police said was inspired by the 1999 Columbine massacre in the United States.

Before entering the Raul Brasil school in Suzano near Sao Paulo, the former pupils aged 17 and 25 shot and killed the younger assailant’s uncle, who owned a car rental agency where they stole a vehicle.

. . .

Police identified the assailants as Guilherme Taucci Monteiro, 17, and Luiz Henrique de Castro, 25. The 17-year-old was the leader and main planner, an investigator said.

. . .

An amateur video aired by Globo TV showed children screaming, running and begging for their lives as loud shots were heard.

. . .

The two assailants spent more than a year planning their attack, which they “hoped would draw more attention than the Columbine massacre,” an investigator said on condition of anonymity. In the 1999 attack on Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, two students killed 13 people.

More:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-brazil-violence-school/inspired-by-columbine-brazil-pair-kill-eight-and-themselves-in-school-shooting-idUKKBN1QU1TQ?rpc=401&

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[Judi Lynn]

2. Brazil school massacre: 'First time I've seen someone use a crossbow like that'

14 Mar, 2019 10:28am

Two masked men armed with guns, knives, axes and crossbows descended on a school in southern Brazil on Wednesday, killing five students and two adults before taking their own lives, authorities said.

The men, identified as former students at the school in a suburb of Sao Paulo, also shot and killed the owner of a used car business nearby before launching the attack on the school, authorities said.

Besides the five students, the dead included a teacher and a school administrator, said Joao Camilo Pires de Campos, the state's public secretary. Nine others were wounded in the school attack and hospitalised, he said.

"This is the saddest day of my life," de Campos said, speaking to reporters outside the school in the Sao Paulo suburb of Suzano.

More:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12212550