Man kills four children with hatchet after climbing over wall in nursery in Brazil

City of Blumenau rocked by horror attack as killer turns himself over to cops

A man scaled the walls of a nursery with a hatchet and killed at least four children and injured several others in southern Brazil, authorities said.

Police said a 25-year-old man turned himself in after the attack on Wednesday morning in the city of Blumenau, Santa Catarina, though his motive remained unknown.

Local media cited police and hospital staff saying that three boys and a girl, aged between five and seven, were dead and two boys and two girls, aged between three and five, were among those injured. Another child was injured but had already been released, according to news site Folha.

A crowd gathers as police and firefighters block the entrance to the Cantinho do Bom Pastor nursery (EPA)

Firefighters said that around 40 children had been inside the nursery at the time of the attack. The killer arrived on a motorcycle and climbed a wall in order to gain entry to the building before targeting staff and children at random with his hand axe, police said.

A teacher at the nursery, who identified herself only as Simone, told Folha she locked the room where the children were to try to protect them. On fleeing the scene, the attacker headed to the 10th Military Police Station of Santa Catarina, around two miles away, where he handed himself over to police.

Ulisses Gabriel, head of the Civil Police of Santa Catarina, said the man was under arrest and would be questioned.

Amid rumours on social media of other potential attacks, Blumenau’s mayor, Mario Hildebrandt, said the city had suspended classes and will declare a 30-day mourning period. Images broadcast on television showed weeping parents outside the private early years’ facility, Cantinho do Bom Pastor on Rua dod Cacadores in the Velha area.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the attack a “monstrosity” and shared his condolences on Twitter, writing: “There is no greater pain than that of a family that loses its children or grandchildren, even more so in an act of violence against innocent and defenceless children.”

Children were led away from the nursery after attack (NSC Total)

Santa Catarina governor Jorginho Mello said he received news of the attack “with great sadness”. “May God comfort the hearts of all families in this moment of deep pain,” he wrote on Twitter.

School attacks in Brazil were once uncommon, but have been happening more often in recent years. Last week, a student in Sao Paulo stabbed a teacher, killing her, and also wounded several others.

In 2021, an 18-year-old man killed two staff members and three toddlers in a creche in Saudades, also in Santa Catarina state. From 2000 to 2022, there were 16 attacks or violent episodes in schools, four of which happened in the second half of last year, according to a report from researchers led by Daniel Cara, an education professor at the University of Sao Paulo. The researchers prepared the report for the government of President Lula.

Blumenau, a city of 366,000 people, is famous for its annual Oktoberfest festival.