Second person dies after shooting at school in Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, Jun 20 (EFE).- A 16-year-old student wounded in a shooting at a high school in the southern Brazilian state of Parana died Tuesday of his injuries, his family told the media, bringing the total number of fatalities from the incident to two.

Luan Augusto da Silva died in the wee hours at University Hospital in Londrina, where he was rushed Monday after being shot in the head at Profesora Helena Kolody secondary school in Cambe.

Da Silva was the boyfriend of Karoline Verri Alves, 17, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The confessed shooter is a 21-year-old former student at the school who gained admittance on the pretext of needing some documents from the administration.

The assailant, said by his family to be suffering from schizophrenia, got off at least 17 rounds when he opened fire indiscriminately at students in the school’s central courtyard, the Parana state Public Safety Department said.

Police responding to the emergency call found the shooter still at the scene and placed him in custody, confiscating a handgun and a notebook with writings about other school attacks in Brazil.

The shooter told police that he didn’t know the victims and that he fired at random.

He said his motive was seeking revenge for harassment he suffered as a student.

Two other people, a man of 21 and a 13-year-old boy, were arrested Monday on suspicion they helped plan the attack.

Monday’s shooting follows similar attacks in recent months, of which the most serious took place at a daycare in the southern state of Santa Catarina, where an axe-wielding man hacked four children to death.

Researchers at the University of Campinas compiled a study showing that 36 people – including 25 students – died in 31 violent incidents at schools across the giant South American nation between January 2002 and May of this year.

Brazil “can’t tolerate more” violence in schools or the wider society, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino pointed to “messages of hate” that circulate on social media and a “culture of arms” promoted by the previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, who loosened regulation of guns and endorsed vigilantism as a response to crime.

EFE cm/dr