Four children killed in kindergarten attack in Brazil

Four children have been killed at a kindergarten in Brazil after a 25-year-old man scaled the wall and attacked them with a hatchet.

Distressed parents are seen at the kindergarten. Picture: Twitter

Four children have been killed at a kindergarten in Brazil after a 25-year-old man scaled the wall and attacked them with a hatchet.

He arrived at the Good Shepherd Center preschool in Blumenau, in the southern state of Santa Catarina, on Wednesday morning wielding an axe-like weapon.

After carrying out the sickening attack, he turned himself into police.

Santo Antonio Hospital said it had received patients aged between zero and two years old.

About 40 children were inside the preschool when the attack took place.

Parents were seen running towards the scene after the news broke.

Distressed parents are seen at the kindergarten. Picture: Twitter

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned the attack as a “monstrosity”.

“There is no greater pain than a family that loses children or grandchildren, even more so when it is in an act of violence against innocent and defenseless children,” he wrote on Twitter.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families.”

Santa Catarina Governor Jorginho Mello declared three days of mourning in the state for the “terrible” attack.

Crowds gathered outside as they waited to collect their children. Picture: Twitter

Violence in schools has been increasing in Brazil in recent years. Last week, a 13-year-old boy killed a teacher in a knife attack at a school in Sao Paulo.

In November, a 16-year-old shooter killed four people and wounded more than 10 others in twin attacks on two schools in the southeastern city of Aracruz, in Espirito Santo state.

In 2019, two former students shot dead eight people at a high school in Suzano, outside Sao Paulo, then also took their own lives.

The country’s deadliest school shooting left 12 children dead in 2011, when a man opened fire at his former elementary school in the Rio de Janeiro suburb of Realengo, then killed himself.