At least 4 killed in Brazil kindergarten attack, assailant in police custody

 

A man wielding a hatchet killed at least four young children Wednesday - three boys and a girl - in a kindergarten in the city of Blumenau in southern Brazil, local officials informed.

Firefighters said the 25-year-old assailant had jumped over a wall to enter the privately run creche and had apparently targeted the victims at random.

Another four children sustained injuries in the attack, with at least one of them reportedly in a severe condition.

The attacker is currently in police custody. In a statement, the military police said the man had surrendered at one of their stations in the town.

In total, roughly 40 children were inside the kindergarten at the time of the attack. Firefighters said the four kids killed in the incident were between five and seven years old.

A teacher at the Cantinho Bom Pastor nursery said it was "a scene that you'd never imagine you'd see in your life." Apart from the hatchet, the attacker was also carrying other weapons, she said, although she didn't elaborate on what those were.

As news of the deadly incident proliferated, parents rushed to the kindergarten. The teacher had managed to lock some children in one of the rooms in order to protect them, she told reporters gathered outside the creche.

While officials have suspended classes in the city until at least tomorrow, the governor of the state of Santa Catarina has declared three days of mourning.

Nevertheless, it isn't the first time that a kindergarten in the state has been attacked. A creche in the municipality of Saudades saw a deadly incident in 2021 when an 18-year-old man killed three toddlers and two staff members.