Suzano massacre

The Suzano Massacre, also known as the Suzano school massacre, was a school shooting that took place on March 13, 2019, at the Professor Raul Brasil State School in the Brazilian municipality of Suzano, São Paulo State. The perpetrators, 17-year-old Guilherme Taucci Monteiro and 25-year-old Luiz Henrique de Castro, both former students at the school, killed five students and two school employees. Before the attack, in a car shop near the school, the pair also killed Monteiro's uncle.^[2] After the shooting, Monteiro killed his partner and then committed suicide.^[3]

Suzano school massacre
One of the buildings of Raul Brasil school, with Military Police officers and firefighters, a Civil Police car, and a coroner's hearse on the scene; in the center, apparently an investigator carrying bagged evidence (a composite bow)
Show interactive map of Suzano Suzano Show map of Brazil
Location	Escola Estadual Professor Raul Brasil, Suzano, São Paulo, Brazil
Coordinates	23°32′04″S 46°18′56″W / 23.5344°S 46.3155°W / -23.5344; -46.3155
Date	13 March 2019; 5 years ago (2019-03-13) c. 9:40 a.m. (BRT (UTC-3))
Target	Students and staff at Professor Raul Brasil State School
Attack type	School shooting, mass murder, murder–suicide, attempted bombing, shootout
Weapons	3-inch Taurus Model 85 .38-caliber revolver Vixion Scorpion composite bow Man Kung MK-150A1PB crossbow Hatchet Molotov cocktail^[1]
Deaths	10 (9 at the school, including both perpetrators; and Monteiro's uncle at a car shop)
Injured	11
Perpetrators	Guilherme Taucci Monteiro Luiz Henrique de Castro

The attack was the second major and 2nd deadliest school shooting in Brazil, after the Realengo massacre in 2011.^[4]

Attack

Earlier in the day, the gunmen shot three times and killed Monteiro's uncle, Jorge Antônio Moraes, in a nearby car shop. The two attackers drove to the school in a white Chevrolet Onix^[5] that Castro had legally rented at Localiza.^[6]

School cameras recorded the attackers entering the school at around 9:40 a.m. local time, one after the other, with a delay of around 10 seconds. Monteiro entered the building first, hiding his face from students while retrieving a hidden gun. He then turned around and began shooting at two school staff members as well as several students at a distance of approximately 3 feet (0.91 m) in front of him, before entering the main patio in search of more potential victims. He disappeared from camera and then moved on to the institution's linguistics center.

By this time, Castro appeared on camera entering the building in a hurry while holding several weapons, including a bow which he eventually left on the floor. He approached the corpses lying on the ground and struck them with a hatchet. Fleeing students started to run from the patio towards the school entrance hall. On the way, they encountered Castro, who was still in the entrance hall. Other students who had hidden themselves when they first heard gunshots were able to avoid being shot.^[2] Five students between 15 and 17 years old and two school staff members were killed.^[7]

The school was locked down by police, who searched it and found a bow and arrow, a crossbow, possible Molotov cocktails and a wired bag. A bomb squad was dispatched to the scene and found that it was a fake explosive.^[8]

Perpetrators

The shooters were Guilherme Taucci Monteiro (July 5, 2001 – March 13, 2019) and Luiz Henrique de Castro (March 16, 1993 – March 13, 2019).^[8] Monteiro lived with his grandparents as his mother had addiction problems.^[6] Both attackers had attended the targeted school. Monteiro allegedly dropped out due to having been bullied the previous year.^[9] The attackers had been close friends since childhood.

They had planned the attack for a year and, inspired by the Columbine High School massacre, they hoped the attack would draw more attention than the Columbine massacre.^[3] According to some reports, both perpetrators were influenced by Dogolachan, a far-right imageboard known for inciting terrorism and violence where they had been asking for weapons and support.^[10][11] On this imageboard Luiz was known as luhkrcher666 and Guilherme as 1guY-55chaN.^[10][11] In a statement from Monteiro's mother, Monteiro had reportedly been bullied because of his acne. She also stated that he had been harassed by a fellow pupil.^[6] Castro was described by his father as "weak-minded and would do what the other people wanted". A third suspect, not directly involved in the attack, stated that the perpetrators also intended to carry out rapes.^[12] The perpetrators might have been influenced by Elephant, a movie about a school shooting in which a murder-suicide between the shooters ends the movie.^[11]

Victims

Two victims were school staff members. The first victim to be shot was Marilena Ferreira Vieira Umezu, a pedagogical coordinator. Five high school students were killed, four of whom died at the site and one en route to a hospital. The attack also left eleven students wounded who were taken to nearby hospitals. Two of these victims, who presented a more serious clinical condition, were transferred to Hospital das Clínicas in São Paulo.^[13][14][15]

Deaths

Students

• Caio Oliveira, 15
• Claiton Antônio Ribeiro, 17
• Douglas Murilo Celestino, 16
• Kaio Lucas da Costa Limeira, 15
• Samuel Melquíades Silva de Oliveira, 16

School staff

• Marilena Ferreira Vieira Umezu, 59
• Eliana Regina de Oliveira Xavier, 38

Perpetrator's relatives

• Jorge Antônio Moraes, 51, uncle of Guilherme Taucci Monteiro^[16]

Reaction

Many authorities, politicians, artists^[17] and other people expressed their condolences and commented on the tragedy.^[18]

João Doria, governor of São Paulo, canceled his routine activities and flew to Suzano in a helicopter^[19] along with Rossieli Soares, the state's Secretary of Education; Colonel Salles, military police commander; and army general João Camilo Pires de Campos. Doria lamented the attack and decreed 3 days of mourning in the state.^[20]

President Jair Bolsonaro lamented the tragedy and expressed his condolences to the victims' families on a tweet posted 6 hours after the tragedy.^[21][22][23] Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez, Minister of Education, expressed solidarity: "My condolences to the families. I express my contempt towards that demonstration of violence. I'll be closely following the investigation".^[18] Onyx Lorenzoni, Chief of Staff, also tweeted his condolences.^[24] Damares Alves, Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, lamented the event and offered support by the Ministry.^[25]

Rodrigo Maia, President of the Chamber of Deputies, expressed his solidarity towards the families of victims and said that "it's time for Brazil to unite forces and competences to understand what happened and prevent new massacres like that one from occurring".^[26] Davi Alcolumbre, President of the Senate, expressed his condolences and tweeted: "I hope that the real causes behind that tragedy be discovered".^[27] As a result of the shooting, many congress members brought the question of gun control back into debate, with some criticizing the relaxation of gun laws.^[18][28]

São Paulo's federal congressman Júnior Bozella wanted to create a bill as a reaction to the tragedy, justifying that violent video games can lead the youth to commit "massive acts of violence". Júnior's proposal was criticized by several sectors, who considered as a "censorship setback" that could bring economic problems to Brazil. ^[29][30]

Dias Toffoli, President of the Supreme Federal Court, read a note during an ordinary plenary section on March 13 in which he expressed his solidarity towards the families and friends of the victims and to society as a whole, which "is also a victim of that kind of tragedy". He also stated: "we can't let hatred enter our society".^[31]

The tragedy was followed by Brazilian media and attracted attention of international media including BBC News, Le Figaro, Focus, El País and The Guardian.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• 2019 in Brazil
• List of attacks related to secondary schools
• List of school massacres by death toll
• List of school shootings in Brazil

References

1. Dantas, Dimitrius (March 13, 2019). "Atiradores eram ex-alunos e mataram dono de locadora antes de ataque na escola em Suzano" [Shooters were former students and killed the owner of a rental company before the school attack in Suzano]. O Globo (in Portuguese). Editora Globo S/A. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
2. Gigova, Radina; Sanchez, Ray (March 13, 2019). "At least 8 people were killed in a school shooting in Brazil". CNN. Turner Broadcasting System. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
3. Martins, Lais (March 13, 2019). "Inspired by Columbine, Brazil pair kill eight and themselves in school shooting". Reuters. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
4. "Brazil school shooting: São Paulo gunmen were former pupils". BBC. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
5. Padin, Guilherme (March 13, 2019). "Carro usado por atiradores em Suzano foi alugado em fevereiro" [Car used by gunmen in Suzano was rented in February]. R7 (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão Record S.A. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
6. "Brazil school shooting: Gunmen 'had planned attack'". BBC. March 14, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
7. "Veja quem são as vítimas do massacre em escola de Suzano" [See who are the victims of the Suzano school massacre]. G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Globo Comunicação e Participações S.A. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
8. "Adolescentes atiram dentro de escola e matam 6 pessoas em Suzano, diz polícia" [Teenagers shoot inside school and kill 6 people in Suzano, police say]. G1 (in Portuguese). Globo Comunicação e Participações S.A. March 13, 2019. from the original on March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
9. "Everything We Know About the School Shooting in Brazil". VICE. March 14, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
10. Siqueira, Filipe; Guimarães, Caíque (March 13, 2019). "Em fórum extremista, atiradores pediram 'dicas' para atacar escola" [In an extremist internet forum, gunmen asked for 'hints' to attack school]. R7 (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão Record S.A. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
11. Declercq, Marie (March 13, 2019). "Nos chans, já se celebra o massacre na escola de Suzano" [On chans, the Suzano school massacre is already celebrated]. Vice (in Portuguese). Vice Media. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
12. "Massacre em Suzano teria estupros e uso de granadas, diz 3º suspeito". Yahoo! Notícias. March 20, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
13. Amorim, Silvia (March 13, 2019). "Coordenadora morta em ataque de Suzano usava redes para comentar tragédias e política". O Globo. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
14. Dantas, Dimitrius; Martins, Elisa; Schmitt, Gustavo (March 13, 2019). "Ataque a tiros deixa ao menos dez mortos em escola de Suzano, na Grande São Paulo". O Globo. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
15. Paranhos, Thaís; Stumpf, Fernanda (March 13, 2019). "Veja quem são as vítimas do massacre em escola de Suzano". Metrópoles. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
16. Tavares, Bruno (March 13, 2019). "Assassino mais jovem matou o outro e depois se suicidou na escola de Suzano, diz polícia". G1. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
17. "Famosos se revoltam com tragédia de Suzano que deixou 10 mortos: "Deus, por quê?"". Caras. March 13, 2019.
18. "Veja a repercussão do ataque a escola em Suzano". G1. March 13, 2019.
19. "'Cena mais triste que assisti em toda a minha vida', diz Doria sobre ataque em escola em Suzano". G1. March 13, 2019.
20. Agência Brasil (March 13, 2019). "Doria decreta luto de três dias por mortes em escola de Suzano". EBC - Empresa Brasil de Comunicação.
21. "Massacre em escola de Suzano é noticiado na imprensa internacional". Veja. March 13, 2019.
22. Marcelo Camargo (March 13, 2019). "No Twitter, Bolsonaro lamenta massacre em escola de Suzano". Folha de Londrina.
23. "Pelo Twitter, Bolsonaro presta condolências às famílias das vítimas de Suzano". Metro Jornal. March 13, 2019.
24. "Meus sentimentos às famílias das vítimas do terrível atentado em Suzano". Onyx Lorenzoni. Twitter. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
25. "Acordamos hoje com esta terrível notícia e estou estarrecida". Damares Alves. Twitter. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
26. "A tragédia de Suzano, hoje, mostra que é hora de o Brasil unir forças e competências para compreender o que houve e impedir a repetição de massacres como este". Rodrigo Maia. Twitter. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
27. "Presidente do Senado lamenta tragédia em Suzano". Senado Notícias. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
28. Guilherme Seto (March 13, 2019). "Major Olímpio diz que tragédia em Suzano seria evitada se professores estivessem armados". Folha de S.Paulo.
29. http://dropsdejogos.com.br/index.php/noticias/industria/item/5277-opiniao-o-caso-do-deputado-que-quer-proibir-jogos-violentos-no-brasil-deveria-ser-repercutir-internacionalmente
30. "Projeto de lei que criminaliza os jogos violentos é um retrocesso faraônico".
31. "Nota de pesar do presidente do STF sobre tragédia em Suzano (SP)". STF. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.