RIO DE JANEIRO — A man opened fire at a school in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, killing at least 12 people before taking his own life, the O Dia newspaper reported.
The shooter entered the Tasso Da Silveira school in Realengo, western Rio de Janiero, shortly before 9:00am local time before opening fire with two .38 caliber revolvers.
“The person entered, and fired shots,” a spokeswoman for the Rio Military Police said.
He killed 12 people and also exchanged fire with police, O Dia newspaper reported, before turning the gun on himself.
The gunman, named as former student Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, 24, opened fire on a group of children aged between 12 and 14 years old. Witnesses said he fired at least 100 shots.
The newspaper said at least 30 people were also injured.
“The school children said [it was] really a great bloodbath. It was horrible,” a student’s father said.
A makeshift hospital was set up on a soccer field near the school to give victims first aid before the most serious cases were taken to the hospital, the newspaper said.
Thousands of people were gathered outside the school Thursday, desperate for news of their loved ones, the newspaper said.