A child, reportedly either 12 or 13 years old, in Brazil attacked two fellow students and a teacher with a knife at the Adventist Institute of Manaus on Monday. All three victims suffered superficial injuries according to the Secretary of Public Security of Amazonas State.
The assailant, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed, was apprehended and taken to a police station specializing in juvenile offenders.
The adolescent, who reportedly carried three Molotov cocktails in his backpack, reportedly burst into a classroom and stabbed his victims in a struggle with those in the room to subdue him, which was successful. City emergency services treated the victims and promptly discharged them.
The incident marks the third attack on a Brazilian school or childcare center in the past two weeks. On Wednesday, a 25-year-old man killed four children aged four to seven with an axe at a daycare center located in the city of Blumenau. On March 27, a 13-year-old student stabbed four teachers and a classmate in a school located in São Paulo, killing a 71-year-old teacher.
One of the fathers of the victims in the Manaus attack told the left-wing Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo that his daughter had previously reported episodes of violence by the assailant. The father alleged that the reason for the attack was that his daughter had previously broken up a fight between the assailant and another student.
The news website Fato Amazônico reported on Monday that, according to the guidance counselor of the South Zone of Manaus Kiki Anjos — who conversed with the assailant — the boy had specific plans to kill five people, injure seven others, and die in a confrontation with the police. His plans, according to Anjos’ conversation with the assailant, were unsuccessful because the assailant was not able to get access to a firearm.
The Adventist Institute of Manaus issued a public letter on Monday informing that administrative measures would be taken in relation to the assailant.
“We deeply regret what happened, and we sympathize with the victims and their families, giving them all the support we can. We are providing the necessary information to the authorities. At this moment, administrative measures in relation to the aggressor are being adopted,” the statement reads. “The Adventist Education values respect for life, repudiates all kinds of violence and emphasizes its concern for the harmony and well-being of students.”
The local news website Amazonas Atual reported on Monday that other private schools in Manaus began to adopt security measures following the attack on the Adventist Institute, including the installation of metal detectors at the entrance, reinforced security, and severe punishments for students, parents, teachers, and employees that enter the school premises with sharp objects and weapons.
In a statement published on Instagram on Monday evening, the Secretary of Education of Amazonas Kuka Chaves expressed her solidarity with the victims and the Adventist Institute of Manaus. Chaves asked that families contribute to preventing incidents of this kind by overseeing the use of social networks by their children and paying attention to behavioral changes at home.
“We ask for the partnership of families to monitor what has been viewed on social networks, in WhatsApp groups, changes in behavior, to check the bags of their children on their way out of the house, the games they have been consuming,” Chaves’ statement read. “Only together can we move forward on this problem that has reached not only our state, or the country, but has become an issue of worldwide attention.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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