A man who
entered a day care center with an ax
killed four children and injured at least four others Wednesday in southern Brazil, authorities said.
The governor of the state of Santa Catarina, Jorginho Mello, confirmed the murders in the city of Blumenau on his Twitter account, writing that the killer has been arrested.
Firefighters confirmed that the man attacked with an ax and that three children were taken to hospital.
"An individual entered the school with a knife and
killed four children
. There were also four injuries," this source explained.
The perpetrator of the attack, a 25-year-old man, turned himself in at a Military Police headquarters, where he was detained, the force said in a statement.
Police confirmed the four deaths and other victims taken to city hospitals for treatment.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned "the monstrosity" that occurred:
"There is no pain greater than that of a family that loses its children or grandchildren
, even more so in an act of violence against innocent and defenseless children," he wrote in a message On twitter.
A horror that is repeated in Brazil
Attacks on schools have increased in recent years in Brazil.
The most recent was last March 27: a 13-year-old teenager killed a teacher at a school in Sao Paulo with a knife.
Last November
, a 16-year-old teenager shot dead four people and injured more than a dozen
in two attacks on schools in the city of Aracruz, in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo.
In 2019, two former students shot eight people to death at a high school in Suzano, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, and then committed suicide.
The deadliest attack on record in Brazil occurred in 2011: 12 children were killed when a man opened fire at their former nursery school in Realengo, a Rio de Janeiro suburb, before taking his own life.
