12 kids killed in Rio school shooting

12 kids killed in Rio school shooting

A disturbed young Brazilian man shot dead 12 children before killing himself at his former primary school in Rio de Janeiro.

Anxious...This woman was among the parents waiting outside the school after the shootingA rambling, religiously-themed suicide note was found in de Oliveira's clothes but it shed little light on the motivation of his macabre attack on defenceless young children as they arrived for morning class.

Rio Police Chief Martha Rocha said that when Oliveira first entered the school he told staff members he was there to give a lecture.

Shortly afterward, he opened fire. Rocha said he was carrying two pistols and an ammunition belt. He fired off at least 30 rounds.

About 400 people were inside the school when the shooting began about 8.30am local time on Thursday.

Jade Ramos, a student at the school, said the gunman repeatedly yelled "I'm going to kill you all."

"He had already killed a lot of children in the first floor and in the yard," she told the Globo television network.

"He kept telling the kids to face the wall and was shooting at their heads. The children kept begging, 'No, please!' There was a lot of blood, children agonising on the stairs."

Ramos said she escaped by running into a classroom, where a teacher then locked the door and barricaded it with tables.
Source: sheppnews.com.au

Published Apr 8 2011