Brazilian police rescued 13 children held hostage at a kindergarten in Curitiba on Friday after killing the suspect, who had spread a flammable substance in a classroom and was holding a lighter, officials said.
The suspect jumped the gate of the kindergarten in the Sao Braz neighborhood, broke into a classroom and held 13 children hostage for up to three hours, police said. He carried a knife and what appeared to be a firearm but turned out to be fake. At least one child was wounded, Parana military police special forces commander Alexandre Lopes Dias told reporters, without elaborating on how.
Police said they moved to a tactical intervention after the children became agitated and the attacker started beating them. “Once we realised that the kids were becoming increasingly upset and that the attacker started assaulting them physically, we opted for a tactical intervention to avoid a greater problem,” Lopes Dias said. The suspect was identified as a man who suffered from schizophrenia; police did not name him.
Curitiba Mayor Eduardo Pimentel wrote on Instagram that the 13 children were alive and safe. City Hall said the children and school staff would receive psychological support. The incident continues a pattern of school attacks in southern Brazil, including the April 2023 axe attack at a Blumenau daycare that killed four children.