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Four children were killed, and five others were injured following an ax attack at Cantinho Bom Pastor day care center in Blumenau, Brazil.
The assailant turned himself in at a police station and did not appear to have any connection with the center, which offers nursery services, preschool education and after-school activities. The dead were between the ages of 5 and 7, authorities said. In addition to the four killed, officials initially said three others were injured.
That number climbed to five wounded surviving children later in the day.
Authorities were searching for a motive, the police detective leading the investigation, Ronnie Esteves, told television reporters in Blumenau, a city in southern Brazil, near the Atlantic coast.
"There is no greater pain than that of a family that loses its children or grandchildren, even more so in an act of violence against innocent and defenseless children. My condolences and prayers to the families of the victims and the community of Blumenau in the face of the monstrosity that occurred at the Bom Pastor day care center," Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tweeted in response to the attack. "For any human being who has the Christian feeling, a tragedy like this is unacceptable, a behavior, an absurd act of hate and cowardice like this."
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A woman conforts a crying girl outside the day care center "Cantinho do Bom Pastor" after a fatal attack on children in Blumenau, Santa Catarina state, Brazil. (Patrick Rodrigues/Portal NSC Total via AP)
Images broadcast on networks showed weeping parents outside the private daycare center. The attack took place on the center's playground, according to the local affiliate of television network Globo. NSC, the affiliate, showed a photo of the suspect with a closely shaved head. Police have yet to confirm his identity.
Authorities said Wednesday that the assailant jumped over one of the center’s walls to get inside.
Blumenau's mayor, Mário Hildebrandt, suspended classes and said he will declare a 30-day mourning period. The state government said in a statement that rumors circulating on social media of other potential attacks were false. The mayor said five wounded children were taken to hospitals. One was in serious condition.
"It is with great sadness that I receive the regrettable news that the Cantinho do Bom Pastor private day care center, in Blumenau, has been invaded by an assassin who attacked children and employees. Unfortunately four did not resist and died, in addition to three wounded," governor of the Santa Catarina state, Jorginho Mello, initially tweeted.
An ambulance is parked outside the private daycare center "Cantinho do Bom Pastor" after a fatal attack on children in Blumenau, Santa Catarina state, Brazil. (Denner Ovidio/Futura Press via AP)
"I immediately determined the action of our security forces, who are already in place. The killer is already arrested. I leave here my full solidarity. May God comfort the hearts of all families in this moment of deep pain," he added.
The state’s firefighters corps also initially confirmed the man attacked with a hatchet and that three children were taken to the hospital, the Associated Press reported.
"According to the Civil Police, the dead children, three boys and a girl, are between 5 and 7 years old," Brazilian politics reporter for the Correio Braziliense newspaper, Renato Souza, tweeted earlier. "In a note, president Lula condemns the attack, says it is an act of ‘monstrosity,’ of ‘hatred’ and offers solidarity to the families."
A man invaded a daycare center and killed at least four children in Blumenau, Brazil. (AP)
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According to the AP, school attacks in Brazil had been uncommon, but have begun happening with greater frequency in recent years.
Last week, a student in Sao Paulo stabbed a teacher, killing her, and also wounded several others in São Paulo.
Brazil has seen at least one past attack on a daycare center. That attack also occurred in Santa Catarina state, in 2021, when an assailant used a dagger to kill three children under 2 years old and two adults. From 2000 to 2022, 16 attacks or violent episodes happened in schools, four of them in the second half of last year, according to a report from researchers led by Daniel Cara, an education professor at the University of São Paulo. The researchers prepared the report for Lula's government.
Blumenau, a city of 366,000 people, is famous for its annual Oktoberfest festival.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.