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Ambulance at the crime scene in southern Brazil
Photo: Liamara Polli / AP
An 18-year-old killed three children and two caregivers in an educational facility in southern Brazil.
He went into the "Aquarela" crèche in the small community of Saudades in the state of Santa Catarina with a knife-like object and stabbed those present.
That said the spokesman for the military police of Santa Catarina, Major Rafael Antonio da Silva, the news agency dpa on Tuesday.
Another child was injured.
First there was talk of two children killed, later the mayor of Saudades, Maciel Schneider, announced the death of a third child on Brazilian television.
"When we got there, a scene of horror," the news portal "G1" quoted the community's education secretary, Gisela Hermann.
According to »G1«, the children killed were under two years old.
According to another testimony, caregivers hid children in the changing room and locked the door.
"It's the saddest day in our history," said Mayor Schneider, who cried on television when he talked about the events.
“We're not quite sure how to act.
It is my first term of office, I am 35 years old and I also have a young child.
A film begins to play in your head. "
The care was suspended for a week, the governor of the state of Santa Catarina, which is dominated by German immigrants, Daniela Reinehr, exclaimed three days of mourning.
Local residents arrested the perpetrator
So far, nothing is known about a motive of the perpetrator, said the police spokesman.
According to a report in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, he had no previous convictions and had never attended preschool himself.
Before the police even arrived, local residents arrested the attacker, who seriously injured himself.
He was taken to the hospital in Chapecó, 70 kilometers away.
The police searched his home for evidence of the crime, mostly on his computer.
After completing the examinations, the parents should be interviewed.
Attacks of this kind are rather rare in Brazil, so that they cause great consternation - like a rampage with ten dead at a school in Suzano in the state of São Paulo two years ago.
While Brazil may be one of the most violent countries in the world, with 43,892 homicides in 2020, much of this is linked to crime, organized crime, or police violence.
jok / dpa