SAO PAULO — Brazilian police killed on Thursday a suspect who held at least 13 children at knifepoint in a school of the city of Curitiba, in the country’s south. None of them were injured.
Parana state police spokeswoman Leticia Martins told journalists outside school CMEI Sao Braz that the man broke into one of the classrooms and kept children and staffers as hostages for two hours.
She did not disclose how the suspect was killed or the age of the children involved.
“(The suspect) also threatened to pour gasoline onto himself and others, our negotiating teams were in place, but saw no alternative but to neutralize him,” said Martins, who did not say whether the suspect had expressed a specific reason for his actions.
The incident took place in the middle class region of Sao Braz in Curitiba, a city of 1.8 million residents 400 kilometers (248 miles) south of metropolis Sao Paulo.
Local media showed footage of tearful parents outside the school waiting for information as the negotiations between the suspect and police were ongoing. Minutes after two explosions, policemen emerged carrying some of the children outside.
Curitiba city hall said in a statement that the children and the staffers of the school will receive psychological support after the incident.
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