Kindergarten Siege

Curitiba, Brazil. A man died there in a police shooting Friday after he took 13 kindergartners hostage and threatened to set them on fire.

He climbed the school gate, broke into a classroom in the Sao Braz neighborhood and grabbed the children, Parana police spokesperson Leticia Martins told reporters, according to Al Jazeera. Inside, he doused the room in flammable liquid and gripped a lighter, a knife in his other hand. Officers thought at first he also carried a gun. It was fake, Al Jazeera reported. BBC News, covering a string of violent incidents in the region this year, noted that Brazil's southern states have seen repeated attacks on schools and daycares in recent years.

Talks ran close to three hours. One child sat on the gunman's lap the entire time, the rest huddled around him, military police special forces commander Alexandre Lopes Dias said, according to Al Jazeera. Then the children grew agitated. He started hitting them.

"Once we realised that the kids were becoming increasingly upset and that the attacker started assaulting them physically, we opted for a tactical intervention to avoid a greater problem," Lopes Dias said, Al Jazeera reported.

Officers moved fast. "We entered the classroom using a very tactical approach with little risk for the children," Lopes Dias said. At least one child was hurt. Lopes Dias did not say how, or by whom, according to Al Jazeera.

Martins said negotiators had hoped to avoid force. "Our negotiating teams were in place but saw no alternative but to neutralise him," she said, Al Jazeera reported. Whether the man gave police a reason for the attack, she did not say. Lopes Dias said he had schizophrenia. Police withheld his name.

All 13 children survived, Curitiba Mayor Eduardo Pimentel said. Parents had waited outside the gates through the standoff. Local media filmed officers carrying children out moments after flash bangs went off, according to Al Jazeera.

Curitiba City Hall said the children and school staff would get psychological support, Al Jazeera reported. The city of 1.8 million people sits roughly 250 miles south of Sao Paulo.

This is the latest attack on a Brazilian school. Brazil's wave of school attacks has drawn international attention for years. The Guardian has reported on Latin American governments' struggles to secure schools against lone attackers, and CNBC has noted that Brazilian officials have faced pressure to expand funding for school security and mental health screening after similar incidents. In April 2023, a man killed four children with an axe at a day care in Blumenau, also in the south, Al Jazeera reported.