(AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Three people have died and more than a dozen have been injured in two school shootings in southeast Brazil.
The attack took place Friday morning about 10 a.m. in Aracruz, a small town in the state of Espirito Santo, according to the Associated Press. Authorities claim that the 16-year-old suspect killed two teachers at the Primo Bitti State school, which served as both his primary and secondary school. The Praia de Coqueiral Educational Center, a private school situated on the same street, was the scene of the second shooting by the claimed shooter. One teen was killed in the second incident.
The shooting injured at least 13 people, including nine instructors, according to law authorities. The majority of the victims were quickly sent to the hospital. Their health status is unclear.
The attacker, whose identity has not been made public, entered the buildings while wearing a bulletproof vest and was carrying a semiautomatic pistol, according to Brazilian police. According to the governor of Espirito Santo, Renato Casagrande, the teen’s father, a military police officer, owned the guns.
According to the AP, the suspect was taken into custody four hours after the shooting started. Security footage has led police to assume that he acted alone.
“With a feeling of regret and great sadness, I am following closely the investigation into the invasion of the Primo Bitti and Darwin Schools, in Aracruz,” the governor tweeted Friday. “All our security forces are engaged. Determine the displacement of Sec. of Safety and Education to monitor the work.
“… Our security teams caught up with the attacker who, cowardly, attacked two schools in Aracruz in the morning. I declared three days of official mourning as a sign of grief for the irreparable losses. We will continue to investigate the reasons and, soon, we will have new clarifications.”