Brazil School Shooting Inspired by Columbine Massacre

By IndraStra Global News Team

By IndraStra Global News Team

Image Attribute: Flowers at the mural outside Raul Brasil public school, a day after a shooting in which ten people died /Date: March 14, 2019

On March 13, 2019, the two ex-students arrived at the Raul Brasil school carrying guns at around 9:30 am, during recess, and shot at employees and students. Both killed themselves, raising the death toll to ten, according to the police. The school is located in the city of Suzano, São Paulo state, where ten people were shot dead.

On the same day, in a press conference,  police in São Paulo confirmed the names of the two gunmen in Raul Brasil school attack. They are former students Guilherme Taucci Monteiro, 17, and Luiz Henrique de Castro, 25. At the time of the press conference, no motivation for the crime has been disclosed.

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Based on the surveillance footage, Monteiro entered the Sao Paulo school and shot several people in the head with a .38 caliber handgun as they tried to run away. But, later investigators revealed on March 14, the attack seems to be inspired by the 1999 Columbine massacre in the United States.

Also, Sao Paulo civil police director Ruy Ferraz said a 17-year-old former student at the school had been involved in planning but was not present at the school when the attack happened. He did not identify the accomplice but said police have asked a judge to issue a warrant for the teen's arrest.

Twenty-three people were taken to the hospital, among them those who felt sick after the attack. Before reaching the crime scene, they killed Jorge Antonio Moraes, who ran a car rental store next to the school.

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Raul Brasil State School serves about 1,058 middle and high school students. Language courses are also offered to 1,534 students. Staffers total 14, and teachers 63, members of the director’s board included. The last major school shooting in Brazil was in 2011 when 12 children were shot dead by a former pupil in Rio de Janeiro.