Shootings at Brazil schools leave three dead, 13 wounded

Agencies | Brasilia                          

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

A former student armed with a semiautomatic pistol and wearing a bulletproof vest fatally shot three people and wounded 13 on Friday after barging into two schools in southeastern Brazil, authorities said.

The shootings took place at a public school with elementary and middle school students and a private school, both located on the same street in the small town of Aracruz in Espirito Santo state, the state's public security secretariat said in a statement. Two teachers and a student were killed.

Approximately four hours later, the shooter, identified as a 16-year-old boy who used to study at the public school, was arrested by police, Espirito Santo Gov. Renato Casagrande said. Authorities did not release the suspect's name.

Security camera footage showed the assailant wearing a bulletproof vest and using a semiautomatic pistol for the attacks, Espirito Santo public security secretary Márcio Celante said in a video provided by the secretariat's press office. Casagrande said the weapon belongs to the former student’s father, a military police officer.

In addition to the fatalities, 13 people were wounded, including nine instructors, said Celante, who noted that in the public school the shooter gained access to the teachers lounge after breaking a lock. Six of the wounded, including two children, were still hospitalized Friday afternoon.

School shootings are uncommon in Brazil, but have happened with somewhat greater frequency in recent years.