Student shoots dead two in Brazilian school

A young student at a private school in Brazil shot dead two other children and wounded four more Friday, the emergency services said.
Image used for representational purpose only
Image used for representational purpose only

BRASILIA: A young student at a private school in Brazil shot dead two other children and wounded four more Friday, the emergency services said.

There were conflicting reports from the authorities about the ages of those involved. US-style school shootings are rare in Brazil. 

All the victims were 12 or 13 years old, police and the fire department in the central city of Goiana said initially.

However, police investigators told AFP that the suspected shooter, who was arrested, was 14 and that students shot could be anywhere from 11 to 16.

Speaking on Globo television, a police officer said the assailant was the son of a policeman and that the pistol used was police-issue.

The bloodshed in the state of Goias was a shock in Brazil, where student-on-student shootings of the kind common in the United States are unusual.

However, the country is one of the most violent in the world, recording nearly 60,000 homicides a year. Among the frequent victims are children hit by stray bullets in tightly packed favela slum neighborhoods or while in school.

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The New Indian Express
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