Rio de Janeiro school shooting

Rio de Janeiro school shooting

Tasso da Silveira Municipal School after the shooting
Location Tasso da Silveira Municipal School (Escola Municipal Tasso da Silveira), Realengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Coordinates 22°53′02″S 43°25′03″W / 22.883834°S 43.417405°W / -22.883834; -43.417405Coordinates: 22°53′02″S 43°25′03″W / 22.883834°S 43.417405°W / -22.883834; -43.417405
Date April 7, 2011
08:30 (UTC-03:00)
Attack type
 School shooting
Mass murder–suicide
Weapons
Deaths 13 (including perpetrator)[2]
Non-fatal injuries
 12[3]
Perpetrator Wellington Menezes de Oliveira[1]
Motive Uncertain. Possibly bullying and/or religious/philosophical fanaticism.

On the morning of April 7, 2011, 12 children aged between 12 and 14 were killed[4] and 12 others seriously wounded after an armed man entered Tasso da Silveira Municipal School (Escola Municipal Tasso da Silveira), an elementary school in Realengo on the western fringe of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the first time an incident of this kind — a non-gang school shooting with a sizable number of casualties — has been reported in the country.[2] Although police found no concrete evidence of religious or political motives, texts found at Oliveira's home suggest that he was obsessed with terrorist acts and Islam, which he had converted to two years beforehand, after having been a lifelong Jehovah's Witness. In his last wishes, he requested to be buried following Islamic traditions, but also asked Jesus for eternal life and "God's forgiveness for what I have done."

Incident and casualties

A lone gunman, Wellington Oliveira entered the school at around 08:30 local time, identifying himself as a former student and asking to see his school history. By presenting himself as such his entrance was allowed, but instead of heading to the school's office he proceeded to the second floor, entering an eighth grade classroom. Some of the victim's accounts say that he was initially very polite, saluting the children and putting his bag on a table, but soon after shot a number of pupils.[2] The perpetrator was armed with a .38-caliber revolver and a .32-caliber revolver with a number of speedloaders.[5] A boy who survived the attack said that Oliveira selectively shot girls to kill while shooting boys only to immobilize them. Ten of the twelve children killed were girls.[6]

The children ran out of the school as soon as Oliveira started shooting. Two policemen who were patrolling the area were alerted to the shooting by two boys who had been wounded in the face.[7] As the policemen arrived at the school, the gunman had already left the classroom and was preparing to proceed to the third floor where students and teachers had barricaded themselves inside the remaining classrooms. Rio de Janeiro military policeman Third Sergeant Márcio Alexandre Alves shot the gunman in the leg and in the stomach;[8] he fell down a staircase and then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.[9]

The victims were between 12 and 14 years old.[4] Eleven of the twelve students were buried the day after the shooting, in the Brazilian tradition of holding services within a day of a person's death.[10] The twelfth child's body was cremated two days after the shooting.[11]

Perpetrator

Wellington Menezes de Oliveira (July 13, 1987[12] – April 7, 2011), a 23-year-old former pupil of the school, was identified as the gunman. Local police confirmed they had a letter stating the perpetrator's intention to commit suicide.[5][13][14] The police stressed that they found no concrete evidence of a religious or political motive for the attack.[13] Texts found at Oliveira's home suggest that he was obsessed with terrorist acts and Islam which he described as the most correct religion.[15] A neighbor said Oliveira had turned to Islam two years beforehand after being a lifelong Jehovah's Witness[16] In his letters, Oliveira states that he attended the mosque in downtown Rio and that he would study the Qur'an for four hours daily.[15] He also describes his association with "Abdul", who came from overseas and who boasted about having taken part in the September 11 attacks.[15] He also indicated his desire to move to a Muslim majority country, either Egypt or Malaysia.[15] However, Islamic leaders in Rio denied Oliveira's claims.[15]

Oliveira attended Tasso da Silveira Municipal School from 1999 to 2002. According to former schoolmates he was a strange, very reserved person constantly harassed by others, was called "Sherman" (an allusion to a character from American Pie), as well as "suingue" (swing), because he had a limp leg, and was thrown into a garbage bin.[17][18] In a video he had recorded two days prior to the shooting Oliveira stated: "The struggle for which many brothers died in the past, and for which I will die, is not solely because of what is known as bullying. Our fight is against cruel people, cowards, who take advantage of the kindness, the weakness of people unable to defend themselves."
(A luta pela qual muitos irmãos no passado morreram, e eu morrerei, não é exclusivamente pelo que é conhecido como bullying. A nossa luta é contra pessoas cruéis, covardes, que se aproveitam da bondade, da fraqueza de pessoas incapazes de se defenderem.)[19]

In his last wishes, he wished to be buried following Islamic traditions, but also asked Jesus for eternal life and "God's forgiveness for what I have done".[16] As none of his relatives reclaimed Oliveira's body, it was buried in a potter's field at the Caju Cemetery two weeks after his death.[20]

Perpetrator's letter

First of all you should know that the impure ones shall not touch me without gloves, only the chaste ones or those who lost their chastity after wedlock and were not involved in adultery shall touch me without gloves, in other words, no fornicator or adulterer shall have direct contact with me, nor should anything that is impure touch my blood, no impure person shall have contact with a virgin without their permission, those who prepare my burial shall remove all my garments, bathe me, dry me and drape me completely undressed in a white sheet which is in this building, in a bag that I have left in the primary room of the first floor, after wrapping me in this sheet they shall put me in my coffin. If possible, I want to be buried alongside the grave where my mother lies. My mother is called Dicéa Menezes de Oliveira and she is buried in Murundu cemetery. I need a visit from a faithful follower of the Lord to my grave at least once, I need him to pray in front of my grave asking for God's forgiveness for what I have done imploring that Jesus on his return wake me from the sleep of death for eternal life.

I have left a house in Sepetiba of which none of my family members need, there are poor institutions, financed by generous people who take care of abandoned animals, I want this space where I spent my last months to be donated to one of these institutions, because animals are very unappreciated beings and need much more protection and affection than human beings who have the advantage of being able to communicate, work to feed themselves, therefore, those who take my house, I please ask to have good sense and fulfill my request, by fulfilling my request, you will fulfill the will of the parents who wished to pass this estate onto me and everybody knows this, if you do not fulfill my request, automatically you will be disrespecting the will of my parents, which will prove that you have no consideration for them, I believe that you all have respect for our parents, prove this by doing what I asked.

— Wellington Menezes de Oliveira[21]

Victims

The list of victims was released by police in Rio de Janeiro. The families of four victims decided to donate the victims' organs. Six injured children required further treatment, two of them in critical condition.[22]

The victims are:

  • Ana Carolina Pacheco da Silva, aged 13
  • Bianca Rocha Tavares, aged 13
  • Géssica Guedes Pereira, aged 14
  • Igor Moraes, aged 12
  • Karine Chagas de Oliveira, aged 14
  • Larissa dos Santos Atanásio, aged 13
  • Laryssa Silva Martins, aged 13
  • Luiza Paula da Silveira, aged 14
  • Mariana Rocha de Souza, aged 12
  • Milena dos Santos Nascimento, aged 14
  • Rafael Pereira da Silva, aged 14
  • Samira Pires Ribeiro, aged 13

Investigation

The police estimate that over 60 shots were fired by the perpetrator during the shooting. His body was found with two pistols, a .38 caliber and a .32 caliber, some speedloaders and a bandolier with 18 unused rounds.

National response

Governor Sérgio Cabral and Mayor Eduardo Paes speaking about the shooting at school Tasso da Silveira, in Realengo on April 7, 2011.

President Dilma Rousseff declared three days of national mourning and shed tears during her speech to the public regarding the incident.[23]

The State Governor, Sérgio Cabral, and the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, addressed the press at the site of the shooting a few hours later. Cabral described the sergeant, teachers and children from the elementary school, who were able to call policemen who were nearby, as "heroes". "Without them, the tragedy would have been much worse", he said.[24]

The incident has sparked nationwide discussions about how safe Brazilian schools are, and the government also promised to advance the disarmament program which will last from May 6, 2011 until the end of the year.[25]

On April 9, 2011, the house where Wellington de Oliveira lived was subjected to pichação with the writing "assassino covarde", Portuguese for 'coward murderer'. Two days later, a group of locals and former students of the school repainted the house stating that people "should not continue the harm that he has caused".[26]

Hundreds of residents and students from other schools gathered outside the school to remember the ones who died. Posters and flowers were left in front of the school.[27]

On April 10, a group of protesters hung blood-stained Brazilian flags on Copacabana beach in honor of the children who died in the shooting.[28]

At the end of a concert in São Paulo, Bono, from Irish band U2, asked almost 80 thousand people to remember the children who died in Realengo while their names scrolled up on a screen.[29]

The three policemen who responded to the shooting were decorated for act of bravery by Brazilian vice president Michel Temer on April 12, 2011. Third Sergeant Márcio Alexandre Alves was promoted to Second Sergeant; Corporals Denilson Francisco de Paula and Ednei Feliciano da Silva were promoted to Third Sergeant.[30]

International response

The international press stated how the Brazilian public opinion was shocked with the shooting as it was the first time an incident of this kind occurred in the country.[31]

The archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Orani João Tempesta, received a letter from Pope Benedict XVI, where he states that he prayed for the quick recovery of the wounded and asked all people of the city to "help build a society with no violence and respect to each other, especially for the weak and oppressed".[32]

Students from Columbine, Colorado, the site of the 1999 massacre, made a poster, stating their feelings about the tragedy. The poster was sent to the Brazilian elementary school.[33]

In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012, the Tasso da Silveira school held a vigil for the victims on December 21.[34]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Fick, Jeff (April 7, 2011). "Rio School Shooting Shocks City". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Gunman fires inside Brazil school". BBC News. April 7, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Dez feridos em massacre da escola em Realengo continuam internados". O Estado de S. Paulo. April 11, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Brazil mourns Rio school shooting victims". BBC News. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  5. 1 2 Degli Esposti, Emanuelle (April 7, 2011). "Gunman kills up to 20 children in Brazilian school shooting". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  6. ↑ "'Ele atirava nas meninas para matar', diz aluno que sobreviveu a ataque". Globo G1. April 7, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  7. ↑ CNN Wire Staff (8 April 2011). "Hero officer kept Brazilian school massacre from being even worse". CNN. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  8. ↑ G1, Globo (12 April 2011). "Polícia revela que atirador apagou e-mails antes de ataque a escola". Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  9. ↑ G1, Globo (7 April 2011). "Atirador entra em escola em Realengo, mata alunos e se suicida". Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  10. ↑ Sibaja, Marco (8 April 2011). "Brazil buries school kids killed by gunman". Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  11. 1 2 http://noticias.uol.com.br/cotidiano/2011/04/14/policia-prende-homem-que-teria-vendido-arma-a-atirador-homem-admitiu-ter-vendido-tambem-municoes.jhtm
  12. ↑ Nascimento, Christina (April 13, 2011). "'Um aluno invisível', diz diretor da escola sobre Wellington". O Dia. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
  13. 1 2 http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/americas/news/article_1631456.php/At-least-11-dead-in-massacre-at-Rio-de-Janeiro-school
  14. ↑ "Text of Rio de Janeiro shooting letter". seattletimes.nwsource.com. April 7, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Manuscritos de atirador mostram fixação por terrorismo". g1.globo.com. April 10, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
  16. 1 2 BARRIONUEVO, ALEXEI (April 7, 2011). "Gunman Opens Fire at School in Brazil, Killing 12 Children". The New York Times (London).
  17. ↑ Corpo do atirador Wellington Menezes permanece no IML, O Dia (April 10, 2011)
  18. ↑ Wellington Menezes era vítima de 'bullying' nos tempos da escola, O Globo (April 8, 2011)
  19. ↑ Em vídeo, atirador diz que lutava contra covardes e bullying, O Dia (April 12, 2011)
  20. ↑ http://noticias.uol.com.br/cotidiano/2011/04/22/duas-semanas-depois-do-massacre-atirador-de-realengo-e-enterrado-no-rio-como-corpo-nao-reclamado.jhtm
  21. ↑ "Text of Rio de Janeiro shooting letter". The Seattle Times. 7 April 2011.
  22. ↑ G1, Globo (12 April 2011). "Dois alunos seguem em estado grave após ataque em escola do RJ". Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  23. ↑ Phillips, Tom (April 7, 2011). "Brazil shooting: 12 children killed in school rampage". The Guardian (London). Retrieved April 8, 2011.
  24. ↑ Brasil, Agência (April 7, 2011). "Cabral classifica atirador como "psicopata e animal"". Agência Brasil (in Portuguese). Retrieved April 8, 2011.
  25. ↑ Globo, G1 (11 April 2011). "Governo decide antecipar campanha pelo desarmamento". Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  26. ↑ G1, Globo (11 April 2011). "Moradores se reúnem e pintam muro onde atirador morou em Realengo". Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  27. ↑ G1, Globo (9 April 2011). "Alunos de outras escolas fazem homenagens às vítimas de ataque". Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  28. ↑ G1, Globo (10 April 2011). "Bandeiras com 'sangue' lembram crianças mortas em Realengo". Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  29. ↑ G1, Globo (11 April 2011). "U2 homenageia vítimas de tragédia no RJ durante apresentação". Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  30. ↑ G1, Globo (12 April 2011). "Policiais que detiveram atirador em escola são promovidos no Rio". Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  31. ↑ http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/brasil/rj/imprensa+estrangeira+destaca+ineditismo+de+matanca+em+escola+carioca/n1300036793116.html
  32. ↑ http://noticias.uol.com.br/ultimas-noticias/afp/2011/04/08/papa-bento-xvi-se-diz-desolado-apos-massacre-em-escola-do-rio.jhtm
  33. ↑ http://g1.globo.com/Tragedia-em-Realengo/noticia/2011/04/alunos-de-columbine-nos-eua-enviam-recado-vitimas-de-realengo.html| title = Alunos de Columbine, nos Estados Unidos, enviam recado às vítimas de Realengo |
  34. ↑ http://townhall.com/news/world/2012/12/21/brazilian-school-has-vigil-for-newtowns-victims-n1472408

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