A man armed with an axe stormed a Brazilian day care center on Wednesday, killing four children, authorities said, in an attack that rocked the country and put pressure on the government to stem the rising tide of violence.
At least four other children were injured during the attack in Blumenau, a city of 366,000 located in the south of the country, near the Atlantic coast.
The assailant, who jumped over a wall to enter the nursery, turned himself in at a police station, officials said. It did not appear to have any connection to the center, which offers childcare, preschool and after-school activities. The children who died were between the ages of 5 and 7, authorities said.
Authorities were trying to determine the motive, police detective leading the investigation, Ronnie Esteves, told reporters.
Hours after the attack, the Ministers of Education and Justice pledged to invest in measures to prevent violence.
Valeria Aparecida Camilo, mother of a 5-year-old girl who attends the nursery, said she was at work when one of her colleagues saw the news. She quickly called her husband, Gustavo, who hurried off to school and later learned that her daughter had survived.
“As soon as I saw her, I felt relief,” Gustavo Camilo told The Associated Press outside the venue. “But we are very sorry for everything that has happened, with all those children who ended up dying.”
“They are not evil, they are children,” added Valeria. “They are 5-year-old children. What did a 5-year-old boy do to this person?”
Franciele Chequeto said one of the girls killed was a friend of her 7-year-old son Gabriel.
“He doesn’t understand what happened,” Chequeto said. “I sat down with him and told him that he won’t be able to see some of his little friends anymore.”
The head of the state civil police, Ulisses Gabriel, confirmed that the attacker is a 25-year-old man from the neighboring state of Paraná. He will be charged with murder and attempted murder. Police believe the attack was an isolated incident and not related to any other crime, Gabriel said.
Scenes broadcast on television showed parents crying in front of the private nursery, called Cantinho do Bom Pastor.
The attack took place in the playground of the kindergarten, according to NSC, the local affiliate of TV Globo. The station showed a photo of the suspect, who had a shaved head. Police have not confirmed his identity.
The mayor of Blumenau, Mário Hildebrandt, suspended classes in the city and said he will declare 30 days of mourning. The state government said any reports of other attacks or threats against schools in the region were false.
Attacks on schools in Brazil have happened more frequently in recent years. Last week, a student in Sao Paulo stabbed a teacher to death and injured several other people.
Brazil has registered at least one previous attack on a nursery. It also happened in the state of Santa Catarina, in 2021, when an attacker stabbed to death three children under the age of 2 and two adults.
From 2000 to 2022, there have been 16 attacks or acts of violence in schools, four of them in the second half of last year, according to a report by a group of researchers led by Daniel Cara, a professor of pedagogy at the University of Sao Paulo. The researchers — psychologists, sociologists, public school educators, journalists and activists — prepared the report at the request of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Brazilian Justice Minister Flávio Dino told reporters in Brasilia that he would allocate 150 million reais ($30 million) from the national public security fund to reinforce security in schools.
For his part, the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, announced the creation of a group to deal with school violence. Santana will lead the group, which is scheduled to meet for the first time on Thursday.
