Suzano: Two young men wearing hoods and carrying guns, knives and crossbows opened fire at a school in southern Brazil on Wednesday, killing eight people before taking their own lives, authorities said.

The dead included six students and two teachers, and several other people were hospitalised with injuries, according to Governor Joao Doria, speaking a few blocks from the public school in Suzano, a suburb of Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city.

The attackers appeared to be in their early to mid-20s, and authorities don't believe they were former students, the governor said.

Doria said the school had been evacuated and police were inspecting what appeared to be possible explosives left by the shooters. "The school is on lockdown," he said.

Students gathered outside the school recounted harrowing attacks and seeing several bodies lying in pools of blood.

"We were at recess and eating like normal and we heard three pops, then we tried to run to jump over the walls," Rosni Marcelo Grotliwed, a 15-year-old student, told G1 news portal.

She said the attackers had guns and knives, and when she ran to the principal's office, she saw many dead people.

"My friend was stabbed in the shoulder and my other friend was shot," she said. "I escaped with one friend and went home and then came back to look for another friend."

Horacio Pereira Nunes, a retiree whose house is next to the school, said he began hearing shots around 10 am. "Then a lot of kids started running out, all screaming," he said. "It didn't take long until police arrived."

The public school, Raul Brasil Professor, has more than 1,600 students from elementary to high school grades, teachers gathered outside said.

Latin America's most populous nation has the largest number of annual homicides in the world, but school shootings are rare.

In 2011, 12 students were killed by a gunman who roamed the halls of a school in Rio de Janeiro, shooting at them.

President Jair Bolsonaro ran on a platform that included promises to crack down on criminals, in part by expanding public access to guns. Soon after being inaugurated 1 January, Bolsonaro issued a decree making it easier for people wanting a gun to buy and possess one.

Standing outside the school, Claudio Cabral said he had been trying to reach his nephew, 17-year-old Douglas Mourinho, so far without luck.

"He is a smart kid. We heard many students jumped the wall," Cabral said hopefully. "Maybe that's what happened."

Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.</s>SAO PAULO: Two assailants opened fire inside a school near Sao Paulo on Wednesday (Mar 13), killing eight people including four children before turning their weapons on themselves, authorities said.

Military police Colonel Marcelo Sales said two assailants burst into the school grounds in the early morning, armed with a .38 caliber revolver and a "medieval weapon that looked like a bow and arrows."

After shooting at students in the yard, the killers headed to the language centre where several pupils were hiding and "committed suicide in a corridor," Sales said.

"Eight people died at the scene, including the two assailants," a state military police spokesman said. "Two injured people died after being taken to hospital."

Around 15 others were injured in the shooting, which took place at the Raul Brasil public school in Suzano, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo in southeast Brazil.

Sao Paulo State Governor Joao Doria said four children and two members of staff were among the dead.

"It's saddest thing I've ever seen," Doria added.

He said it was not yet known whether the assailants were former pupils at the school.

Worried family members congregated outside alongside firefighters and security services, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

"I found out when my daughter called me and said: Mummy, come quickly, there are injured people, dead people," said the mother of one pupil, who gave her name only as Rosa.

The attack took place during a recess period for some students, authorities said.

Sales, of the military police, said the two attackers "shot at the owner of a car wash," who is now receiving hospital treatment, before entering the school.

Website UO1 said the two killers, "probably teenagers, entered the school shooting with their heads covered by a hood."

Another website, G1, published a grainy video purportedly taken inside the school in which the screams of terrified pupils can be heard as they come across dead classmates.

Globonews showed television pictures of pupils fleeing the scene after escaping over a wall.

Education Minister Ricardo Velez published a statement offering "solidarity with the parents, families and staff at the school in this moment of shock, mourning and pain."

It's not the first mass school shooting in Brazil's history.

In April 2011, a former pupil killed a dozen school children and injured many more before turning his gun on himself at a school in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil is one of the most violent countries in the world with 64,000 murders in 2017, a rate of almost 31 per 100,000 inhabitants - that's three times higher than the level the United Nations classifies as endemic violence.

Far right President Jair Bolsonaro controversially passed a law relaxing the rules on carrying weapons soon after assuming power in January, delivering on a campaign promise.</s>Estudantes se abraçam após ataque a escola de Suzano — Foto: Maiara Barbosa/G1

Ataque a tiros deixa dez mortos em escola em Suzano, na Grande SP

Um adolescente e um homem encapuzados atacaram a Escola Estadual Raul Brasil, em Suzano (SP), na manhã desta quarta-feira (13) e mataram sete pessoas, sendo cinco alunos e duas funcionárias do colégio. Em seguida, um dos assassinos atirou no comparsa e, então, se suicidou. Pouco antes do massacre, a dupla havia matado o proprietário de uma loja da região.

Os assassinos – Guilherme Taucci Monteiro, de 17 anos, e Luiz Henrique de Castro, de 25 – eram ex-alunos do colégio. A investigação aponta que, depois do ataque, ainda dentro da escola, o mais novo matou o mais velho e, em seguida, se suicidou. A polícia diz que os dois tinham um "pacto" segundo o qual cometeriam o crime e depois se suicidariam.

Cinco dos mortos são alunos do ensino médio, com idade entre 15 e 17 anos, de acordo com o secretário de Segurança Pública de SP. Entre as vítimas, há ainda duas funcionárias do colégio, uma delas a coordenadora. O dono de uma locadora de veículos próximo ao local, que era tio de um dos assassinos, foi morto pouco antes do ataque.

Também há registro de 11 feridos.

Ainda não se sabe a motivação do crime. Foram feitas buscas na casa dos assassinos, e a polícia recolheu pertences dos dois.

Os mortos são:

Caio Oliveira , 15 anos, estudante

, 15 anos, estudante Claiton Antonio Ribeiro , 17 anos, estudante

, 17 anos, estudante Douglas Murilo Celestino , 16 anos, estudante

, 16 anos, estudante Eliana Regina de Oliveira Xavier , 38 anos, agente de organização escolar

, 38 anos, agente de organização escolar Jorge Antonio de Moraes , 51 anos, comerciante, morto antes da entrada dos assassinos na escola; ele é tio do assassino mais jovem

, 51 anos, comerciante, morto antes da entrada dos assassinos na escola; ele é tio do assassino mais jovem Kaio Lucas da Costa Limeira , 15 anos, estudante

, 15 anos, estudante Marilena Ferreira Vieira Umezo , 59 anos, coordenadora pedagógica

, 59 anos, coordenadora pedagógica Samuel Melquíades Silva de Oliveira, 16 anos, estudante

Os feridos são:

Adna Isabella Bezerra de Paula , 16 anos, estudante

, 16 anos, estudante Anderson Carrilho de Brito , 15 anos, estudante

, 15 anos, estudante Beatriz Gonçalves Fernandes , 15 anos, estudante

, 15 anos, estudante Guilherme Ramos do Amaral , 14 anos, estudante

, 14 anos, estudante Jenifer Silva Cavalcanti

José Vitor Ramos Lemos , estudante

, estudante Leonardo Martinez Santos

Leonardo Vinicius Santa Rosa , 20 anos

, 20 anos Leticia de Melo Nunes

Murilo Gomes Louro Benite , 15 anos, estudante

, 15 anos, estudante Samuel Silva Felix

Resumo

Ataque a escola em Suzano , na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, deixou cinco alunos e duas funcionárias mortas; os dois assassinos se mataram .

, na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, deixou mortas; . Os autores do crime são Guilherme Taucci Monteiro, de 17 anos, e Luiz Henrique de Castro, de 25 anos, ex-alunos do colégio .

do crime são . Após o massacre na escola, o mais jovem matou o mais velho e, em seguida, se suicidou, segundo a polícia .

. Antes de entrar na escola, eles estiveram em uma loja de automóveis próximo ao colégio. O proprietário do estabelecimento , Jorge Antonio de Moraes, tio do assassino mais jovem, levou três tiros e morreu no hospital .

, Jorge Antonio de Moraes, . Há 11 feridos, dos quais 9 receberam alta dos hospitais .

. Ainda não se sabe o motivo do ataque

Uma testemunha disse que viu um deles com arma de fogo e outro, com uma faca

e outro, com uma A PM encontrou no local um revólver 38, uma besta (um artefato com arco e flecha), objetos que parecem ser coquetéis molotov e uma mala com fios.

Os assassinos chegaram ao colégio alvo do ataque em um carro alugado .

ao colégio alvo do ataque . A motivação para o ataque não está clara , segundo a polícia.

, segundo a polícia. Um adolescente de 17 anos foi apreendido por suspeita de ajudar a planejar o massacre; para a polícia, ele foi mentor intelectual e demonstrou frieza

o massacre; para a polícia, ele foi Polícia e MP tentam identificar se mais pessoas estão envolvidas no massacre de Suzano

Segundo o Censo Escolar de 2017, a instituição tem 358 alunos da segunda etapa do fundamental (6º ao 9º ano) e 693 estudantes do ensino médio. No local, também funciona um centro de idiomas.

Luiz Henrique de Castro (à esquerda) e Guilherme Taucci Monteiro (à direita), este em imagem feita na infância, os assassinos que atacaram escola em Suzano nesta quarta-feira (13) — Foto: Arquivo pessoal

Ataque à Escola Estadual Raul Brasil, em Suzano

Vídeo mostra momento em que um dos assassinos entra na escola de Suzano

Guilherme Taucci Monteiro, de 17 anos, e Luiz Henrique de Castro, de 25, eram ex-alunos da instituição. Eles estavam em um carro branco alugado, estacionaram em frente ao portão do colégio e entraram pela porta da frente, que estava aberta.

A mesma câmera mostra, minutos depois, muitos alunos fugindo (assista abaixo).

Vídeo mostra momento em que alunos fogem da escola alvo de ataque em Suzano

"Eles ingressaram na escola, atiraram na coordenadora pedagógica, atiraram numa outra funcionária. Estava na hora do lanche, eles se dirigiram ao pátio, atiraram em mais quatro alunos do ensino médio", disse o coronel Marcelo Salles, comandante-geral da PM.

"Nesse horário, só havia alunos do ensino médio, e [os assassinos] dirigiram-se ao centro de línguas. Os alunos do centro de línguas se fecharam na sala com a professora e eles [os autores do ataque] se suicidaram no corredor."

De acordo com o Secretário de Segurança Pública de SP, João Camilo Pires de Campos, os assassinos se mataram logo depois de se deparar com um grupo de policiais que já havia chegado ao interior da escola.

Outro vídeo, feito dentro do colégio, mostra a correria de alunos e funcionários (assista abaixo).

Vídeo mostra vítimas em escola em Suzano

O assassinato do tio do assassino

O coronel Salles afirmou que, antes de entrar na escola, os criminosos passaram por uma loja de automóveis próximo ao colégio. O proprietário do estabelecimento, chamado Jorge Antonio de Moraes, foi baleado por Guilherme, que era seu sobrinho, e morreu. Moraes levou três tiros – um deles no peito.

"Policiais estavam indo para esse primeiro chamado e ouviram gritos das crianças. Foram, então, até a escola, onde os dois criminosos acabaram se matando", disse a capitão Cibele, da comunicação da PM.

Uma pessoa é socorrida após tiroteio ocorrido na Escola Estadual Raul Brasil em Suzano, na Grande São Paulo — Foto: Werther Santana/Estadão Conteúdo

Familiares e amigos aguardam por informações na entrada da Escola Estadual Raul Brasil em Suzano, na Grande São Paulo. Dois adolescentes encapuzados mataram oito pessoas no local e cometeram suicídio em seguida — Foto: Nelson Almeida/AFP

Familiares e amigos aguardam por informações na entrada da Escola Estadual Raul Brasil em Suzano, na Grande São Paulo. Dois adolescentes encapuzados mataram oito pessoas no local e cometeram suicídio em seguida — Foto: Suamy Beydoun/AGIF/Estadão Conteúdo

Um homem tenta acalmar uma mulher na entrada da Escola Estadual Raul Brasil em Suzano, na Grande São Paulo. Dois criminosos encapuzados mataram oito pessoas no local e cometeram suicídio em seguida — Foto: Maurício Sumiya/Futura Press via AP

Arsenal

Dentro da escola, a polícia encontrou:

um revólver 38;

quatro jet luders, que são plásticos para recarregamento de arma;

uma besta (um tipo de arco e flecha que dispara na horizontal);

um arco e flecha tradicional;

garrafas que aparentam ser coquetéis molotov;

um dos autores do ataque tinha uma espécie de machado na cintura.

há ainda uma mala com fios.

O esquadrão antibombas foi chamado e não encontrou material explosivo no local.

Combinação de fotos mostra algumas das armas utilizadas pelos criminosos no massacre na Escola Estadual Raul Brasil em Suzano, na Grande São Paulo. Dentro da escola, a polícia encontrou um revólver 38, quatro jet luders, que são plásticos para recarregamento de arma, uma besta (um tipo de arco e flecha que dispara na horizontal), um arco e flecha tradicional e garrafas que aparentam ser coquetéis molotov. Um dos autores do ataque tinha uma espécie de machado na cintura. — Foto: Arquivo Pessoal

As vítimas na escola

Os alunos que morreram são:

Caio Oliveira, de 15 anos

Cleiton Antônio Ribeiro, de 17 anos

Douglas Murilo Celestino, de 16 anos

Kaio Lucas da Costa Limeira, de 15 anos

Samuel Melquíades Silva de Oliveira, de 16 anos

As funcionárias que morreram são:

Eliana Regina de Oliveira Xavier, de 38 anos

Marilena Ferreira Vieira Umezo, de 59 anos, coordenadora pedagógica

O dono da loja morto antes do ataque é:

Jorge Antonio de Moraes, de 51 anos, que também era tio de um dos assassinos

Os assassinos, que morreram, são:

Guilherme Taucci Monteiro, de 17 anos

Luiz Henrique de Castro, de 25 anos

Os feridos são:

Leticia Melo Nunes

Samuel Silva Felix

Beatriz Gonçalves

Anderson Carrilho de Brito

Murilo Gomes Louro Benite

Jennifer Silva Cavalcanti

Leonardo Vinicius Santana

Adna Bezerra

Guilherme Ramos

Sem informações sobre a motivação

Boletim: armas medievais foram usadas no massacre de Suzano

O coronel Fábio Pelegrini, da Comunicação Social da PM, informou que a polícia ainda não divulgou se os autores do massacre têm registro de crimes anteriores.

A polícia não tem informações sobre a motivação do crime.

"Provavelmente um ato que foi premeditado. Eles entraram na escola equipados, com máscara. A gente não tem ainda essa motivação, não tem a correlação do motivo e do ato feito", afirmou o coronel Pelegrini.

Movimentação em frente à escola Raul Brasil, onde assassinos mataram alunos e funcionárias — Foto: Reprodução/TV Globo

Relatos de testemunhas

Rosni Marcelo Grotliwed, estudante de 15 anos, disse que o ataque ocorreu durante o intervalo e que um dos criminosos tinha uma arma e outro, uma faca.

“A gente estava na merenda e comendo normal e escutamos 'três pipocos' nisso tentamos correr para pular o muro do CEL. Os caras vieram atrás de nós e começou a matar muita gente. Mas o pente dele descarregou e foi na hora que a gente correu."

Rosni disse que um dos assassinos passou com faca ao seu lado, mas conseguiu desviar. "Fui para a diretoria, e tinha muita gente morta no chão. Eles gritavam, mas eu não entendi o que era", lembrou.

"Meu amigo levou facada no ombro e outro levou um tiro. Fugi com um amigo para minha casa e voltei para buscar um amigo."

Merendeira da Escola Raul Brasil, em Suzano, abrigou alunos na cozinha — Foto: Natan Lira/G1

A merendeira Silmara Cristina Silva de Moraes, de 54 anos, contou que ajudou a esconder 50 estudantes na cozinha.

"Nós estávamos servindo merenda e aí começou os 'pipoco' e as crianças entraram em pânico. Abrimos a cozinha em começamos a colocar o maior número de crianças dentro e fechamos tudo e pedimos para eles deitarem no chão", contou ela, chorando.

"Foi muito desesperador, porque foi muito tiro, muito tiro mesmo e era muito pânico".

Estudante conta como foi ataque em escola estadual em Suzano, na Grande São Paulo

Familiares e amigos aguardam por informações na entrada da Escola Estadual Raul Brasil em Suzano, na Grande São Paulo. Dois adolescentes encapuzados mataram oito pessoas no local e cometeram suicídio em seguida — Foto: Julien Pereira/Fotoarena/Estadão Conteúdo

Autoridades

O governador de São Paulo, João Doria, cancelou a agenda do dia e chegou à escola em um helicóptero, acompanhado do secretário Estadual de Educação, Rossieli Soares da Silva, do secretário de Segurança, general João Camilo Pires de Campos, e do comandante da PM, o coronel Salles. Doria disse que estava "muito impactado".

"Foi a cena mais triste que já assisti em toda a minha vida. Fico muito triste que um fato como este ocorra em São Paulo, ocorra no Brasil. Estou consternado, chocado", afirmou o governador.

"A cena mais triste que eu já assisti em toda a minha vida", diz João Dória

Atendimento a vítimas e famílias

O Corpo de Bombeiros e equipes do Samu estão no local. Bombeiros de Mogi das Cruzes também foram chamados, às 9h50, para apoiar o atendimento. O helicóptero Águia, da PM, sobrevoou a escola. Toda a polícia de Suzano está mobilizada no caso.

A Prefeitura de Suzano informou que as equipes da Defesa Civil, do Trânsito, da Segurança Cidadã, da Assistência Social e do Fundo Social de Solidariedade estão dando suporte no local para as famílias.

A Associação Cultural Suzanense, o Bunkyo, localizado na avenida Armando Salles de Oliveira, Centro, será ponto de acolhida para familiares, enquanto aguardam informações, e também para receber a imprensa.

Frente da Escola Estadual Professor Raul Brasil, em Suzano, após o massacre. — Foto: Maiara Barbosa/ G1

Policiais militares em frente a Escola Municipal de Suzano. — Foto: Maiara Barbosa/ G1.

Movimentação na entrada da Escola Estadual Raul Brasil em Suzano, na Grande São Paulo. Dois criminosos encapuzados mataram oito pessoas no local e cometeram suicídio em seguida — Foto: Marcelo Gonçalves/Sigmapress/Estadão Conteúdo</s>
• At least six people, including five students, have been killed in a school shooting outside of Sao Paulo.
• The shooters killed themselves after the attack, according to Brazilian media.
• School shootings are relatively rare in Brazil.

At least seven people have been killed in Brazil after two people opened fire in a school in Sao Paulo state on Wednesday.

The shooters killed themselves after finishing the attack at Professor Raul Brasil, a public elementary and middle school in Suzano, the news portal G1 reported.

Five victims are students, one is a school employee and at least 17 have been injured, according to G1.

Police said the shooters were hooded, and appeared to be teenagers, according to Folha de S. Paulo.

Authorities found weapons, a bow and arrow, Molotov cocktails and a briefcase full of cables in the school, G1 reported.

Rosni Marcelo, a 15-year-old student who witnessed the attack, told the news portal one assailant had a weapon and the other had a knife. Marcelo said he was nearly stabbed, but managed to escape.

“I went to the principal’s office, and there were a lot of dead people on the ground. They were yelling, but I couldn’t understand them,” he said.

A neighbor named Juliano told the Folha de S. Paulo that the shooting happened shortly after classes started in the morning.

“When I arrived, there was chaos. Many children ran out covered in blood. Absolute despair: Teachers and employees were all running,” he said.

Police and fire fighters arrived at the scene where students and employees stood outside the school crying, G1 reported.

Sao Paulo governor Joao Doria has tweeted that he will take a helicopter to the crime scene.

“I cleared my schedule, and we are on the way to Suzano to follow the rescue and treatment of the victims,” he said.

School shootings are relatively rare in Brazil. The last shooting in a Rio de Janeiro school in 2011 caused outrage in the South American nation.</s>Two masked adolescent gunmen killed at least seven people and wounded around 17 other people at an elementary school in Brazil’s São Paulo on Wednesday before killing themselves, The Rio Times reported. The accused were seen entering the school and opening fire.

The deceased include five students, one school employee and a purported passerby. The police said the injured are undergoing treatment at local hospitals. The incident occurred at 9.30 am (6 pm Indian Standard Time).

The police reported that another shooting incident occurred near the Raul Brasil elementary school a little while before the attack at the school. Investigators are trying to ascertain if the incidents are related. “We still cannot tell if the cases are related,” said Captain Cibele Marsolla, of the military police’s communication department.

“It’s a very sad scene, the saddest thing I’ve seen in my entire life,” São Paulo Governor João Doria said.

The last major school shooting attack in the country was in 2011, when a former student killed 12 children in Rio de Janeiro.

Newly elected President Jair Bolsonaro had recently declared that he would be lifting curbs on gun control laws in the country.</s>SUZANO, Brazil —Two masked men armed with guns, knives, axes and crossbows descended on a school in southern Brazil on Wednesday, killing five students and two adults before taking their own lives, authorities said.

The men, identified as former students at the school in a suburb of Sao Paulo, also shot and killed the owner of a used car business nearby before launching the attack on the school, authorities said.

Besides the five students, the dead included a teacher and a school administrator, said Joao Camilo Pires de Campos, the state’s public secretary. Nine others were wounded in the school attack and hospitalized, he said.

“This is the saddest day of my life,” de Campos said, speaking to reporters outside the school in the Sao Paulo suburb of Suzano.

Authorities identified the attackers as 17-year-old Guilherme Taucci Monteiro and 25-year-old Henrique de Castro.

“The big question is: What was the motivation of these former students?” de Castro said.

Monteiro’s mother, Tatiana Taucci, offered a possible answer, telling Band News while hiding her face from the camera that her son had been bullied at the school.

“Bullying, they call it. … He stopped going to school … because of this,” she said.

She said she was surprised by his involvement and found out about the attack from the television like everyone else.

Minutes before the attack, Monteiro had posted 26 photos on his Facebook page, included several with guns and one that showed him giving the middle finger as he looked into the camera.

In some of the photos, he wore a black scarf with a white imprint of a skull and cross bones. No text accompanied the posts.

By Wednesday afternoon, Facebook had taken down Monteiro’s page.

During the attack, Monteiro opened fire with a .38 caliber handgun and de Castro used a crossbow, de Campos said, adding that forensics would determine how each of the victims died.

The attackers were also carrying Molotov cocktails, knives and small axes, authorities said

“In 34 years as a policeman, it’s the first time I see someone use a crossbow like that,” police Col. Marcelo Salles said. “It is horrendous.”

The assailants were trying to force their way inside a room at the back of the school where many students were hiding when police arrived. Instead of face police, they turned their weapons on themselves, authorities said without elaborating.

Students gathered outside the school recounted harrowing attacks and seeing several bodies lying in pools of blood.

Kelly Milene Guerra Cardoso, 16, said she and other students took refuge in the school’s cafeteria, locked the door and lay on the floor.

“We stayed there until the door was opened. We thought it was the shooters coming to get us, but it was the police,” she said. “They told us to start running.”

Horacio Pereira Nunes, a retiree whose house is next to the school, said he heard shots around 10 a.m.

“Then a lot of kids started running out, all screaming,” he said. “It didn’t take long until police arrived.”

The Raul Brasil Professor public school has more than 1,600 students from elementary to high school grades, teachers gathered outside said.

Latin America’s most populous nation has the largest number of annual homicides in the world, but school shootings are rare.

In 2011, 12 students were killed by a gunman who roamed the halls of a school in Rio de Janeiro, shooting at them.

President Jair Bolsonaro ran on a platform that included promises to crack down on criminals, in part by expanding public access to guns. Soon after his Jan. 1 inauguration, Bolsonaro issued a decree making it easier to buy a gun.

“A monstrosity and cowardness without equal,” Bolsonaro wrote in a tweet expressing his sympathies for the families of the victims of Wednesday’s attacks.

Similar to arguments made by proponents of less gun regulation in the United States, Bolsonaro and his supporters argue that expanded access to guns will combat crime.

Sen. Major Olimpio, a member of Bolsonaro’s party and a proponent of loosening gun legislation, again made that argument hours after Wednesday’s rampage.

“We can’t let those who take advantage of this tragedy speak about how disarmament is the solution,” he tweeted, adding: “Weak and shameful ‘disarmament farce,’ which gave guns to criminals and prevented self-defense.”</s>Forensic vehicles transport the bodies of the people who were killed in a school shooting at the Raul Brasil State School in Suzano, in the greater Sao Paulo area, Brazil, Wednesday, March 13, 2019. Two masked former students armed with guns, knives, axes and crossbows descended on the school Wednesday, killing five students and two adults before taking their own lives, authorities said. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

SUZANO, Brazil (AP) — Two masked men armed with guns, knives, axes and crossbows descended on a school in southern Brazil on Wednesday, killing five students and two adults before taking their own lives, authorities said.

The men, identified as former students at the school in a suburb of Sao Paulo, also shot and killed the owner of a used car business nearby before launching the attack on the school, authorities said.

Besides the five students, the dead included a teacher and a school administrator, said Joao Camilo Pires de Campos, the state’s public secretary. Nine others were wounded in the school attack and hospitalized, he said.

“This is the saddest day of my life,” de Campos said, speaking to reporters outside the school in the Sao Paulo suburb of Suzano.

Authorities identified the attackers as 17-year-old Guilherme Taucci Monteiro and 25-year-old Henrique de Castro.

“The big question is: what was the motivation of these former students?” de Castro said.

Monteiro opened fire with a .38 caliber handgun and de Castro used a crossbow, de Campos said, adding that forensics would determine how the victims died.

The attackers were also carrying Molotov cocktails, knives and axes, authorities said

“In 34 years as a policeman, it’s the first time I see someone use a crossbow like that,” police Col. Marcelo Salles said. “It is horrendous.”

The attackers were trying to force their way inside a room at the back of the school where many students were hiding when police arrived. Instead of face police, they turned their weapons on themselves, authorities said without elaborating.

Students gathered outside the school recounted harrowing attacks and seeing several bodies lying in pools of blood.

Kelly Milene Guerra Cardoso, 16, said she and other students took refuge in the school’s cafeteria, locked the door and lay on the floor.

“We stayed there until the door was opened. We thought it was the shooters coming to get us, but it was the police,” she said. “They told us to start running.”

Horacio Pereira Nunes, a retiree whose house is next to the school, said he heard shots around 10 a.m.

“Then a lot of kids started running out, all screaming,” he said. “It didn’t take long until police arrived.”

The Raul Brasil Professor public school has more than 1,600 students from elementary to high school grades, teachers gathered outside said.

Latin America’s most populous nation has the largest number of annual homicides in the world, but school shootings are rare.

In 2011, 12 students were killed by a gunman who roamed the halls of a school in Rio de Janeiro, shooting at them.

President Jair Bolsonaro ran on a platform that included promises to crack down on criminals, in part by expanding public access to guns. Soon after his Jan. 1 being inauguration, Bolsonaro issued a decree making it easier to buy a gun.

Similar to arguments made by proponents of less gun regulation in the United States, Bolsonaro and his supporters argue that expanded access to guns will combat crime.

Sen. Major Olimpio, a member of Bolsonaro’s party and a proponent of loosening gun legislation, again made that argument hours after Wednesday’s rampage.

“We can’t let those who take advantage of this tragedy speak about how disarmament is the solution,” he tweeted, adding: “Weak and shameful ‘disarmament farce,’ which gave guns to criminals and prevented self-defense.”</s>Eight people have been killed in a school shooting in Brazil, according to Sao Paulo state authorities.

Police officers guard the entrance of the Raul Brasil State School in Suzano, Brazil. Mauricio Sumiya/Futura Press via AP.

Hooded teenagers opened fire at a school in southern Brazil, killing six people before taking their own lives, according to local authorities.

The shooting happened in a public school in Suzano, a suburb of Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city.

The state government of Sao Paulo said two youths armed with guns and wearing hoods entered the school and began shooting at students and then killed themselves.

Authorities said five students and an administrator at the school were killed.

School shootings are rare in the country.</s>SÃO PAULO, Brazil — At least six students were killed in Brazil on Wednesday when two assailants broke into a school and opened fire, police officials said.

A school employee was also killed and at least eight people were injured; the attackers then killed themselves.

“It’s a shock to us all,” a police officer, Capt. Cibele Massola, told CBN Radio. “These are children, adolescents.” She said the assailants appeared to be teenagers and had worn masks with skulls on them and black clothes.

The shooting, at the Professor Raul Brasil school in Suzano, a satellite city of São Paulo, began at 9:30 a.m. The ages of the victims were not immediately made public. Students at the school range in age from 8 to 16, according to local news reports.</s>São Paulo state authorities say two hooded teenagers opened fire inside a school in southern Brazil, killing at least six students and two teachers before taking their own lives.

The shooting at the state school Professor Raul Brasil in Suzano, a suburb about 20 miles east of the city of São Paulo, happened around 8:30 a.m. ET Wednesday morning during a break between classes.

Authorities said the two youths armed with guns and wearing hoods entered the school and began shooting at students. They then then killed themselves. São Paulo Governor João Doria said 10 people have died, including the shooters, and at least 16 others were wounded.

TV Globol reported that a police spokesman said officers were responding to reports of gunfire near the school when they heard screams coming from the school building and ran inside. It was not clear if the two incidents were related, officials said.

Police said the shooters were former students at the school but would not identify them because of the ongoing investigation, TV Globo reported.

The school has about 1,000 students between the ages of 11 and 18 enrolled and 105 employees, according to 2017 census data.

Latin America’s largest nation has the largest number of annual homicides in the world, but school shootings are rare.

Brazil’s new President Jair Bolsonaro recently announced that gun ownership controls would be loosened.
Two men, aged 17 and 25 years, attack a school in the Brazilian city of Suzano, São Paulo, with a revolver and a knife, killing eight and wounding 23 people, among students and staff. The two shooters committed suicide after the attack. Police have found a crossbow, Molotov cocktails and a "suitcase with wires" at the scene.