At least 10 victims dead in Brazilian school attack: Killer's suicide note cites 'islamic fundamentalism'
by Chad D. Baus
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services is reporting that at least 11 people, mostly children, died Thursday and more that 15 were wounded when an armed man attacked a school in Realengo in the poor suburbs of Rio de Janeiro.
From the article:
According to a preliminary police report, the attacker—a 24-year-old former student at the school—was among the dead after shooting himself in the head. He attacked Tasso da Silveira school, where some 400 students ages 9-14 were in classes.
Police Col. Djalma Beltrami said the killer used two handguns and a lot of ammunition. The suspect left behind a letter, in which he anticipated committing suicide after the attack. Beltrami, however, gave no details of any possible motive.
Beltrami described the letter as "the words of a person who no longer believes in anything, full of sentences that made no sense and references to Islamic fundamentalism."
Beltrami said the attacker was friendly as he went into the school, chatting with administrators and teachers and asking for permission to address the children. When he reached the third floor of the building, the suspect entered one of the classrooms and started to shoot at students, killing nine girls and one boy.
The attacker apparently committed suicide upon being chased by a police officer who had been called in by a student who managed to escape the building.
..."He still had a lot of ammunition in his possession. Had it not been for the arrival of the police officer, the tragedy would have been even worse," Beltrami said.
Roselane de Oliveira, a sister of the attacker, told Rio de Janeiro radio station Band News that the young man “was very strange.”
"He had no friends, and he spent all his time on the internet," she said.
In recent months, she said, he appeared to have got closer to Islam.
Pupils can be seen fleeing for their lives in images captured on a security camera in the corridor. The mass murderer can be seen exiting last.
The threat of terrorism in America's schools is the EXACT reason why Buckeye Firearms Association has invited John Giduck to Ohio to present his eye-opening, one-day seminar Terror at Beslan: The Russian School Massacre that Could Happen in America.
As Lt. Col. Dave Grossman writes in the forward to Giduck's book, "Never forget, Beslan could happen here. ...The possibility of a mass murder of school children by terrorists is very real. It has happened in many other nations. Turkey has had over 300 schools destroyed be terrorist attacks. Pakistan, Algeria, and many other nations, in addition to Russia, have experience brutal school massacres committed by terrorist groups. ...We need to apply the lessons of Beslan."
"The most negligent, unprofessional, obscene words anyone can ever say are 'It will never happen here,'" Grossman continues. "Imagine a firefighter saying, 'There will never be a fire in this building, and we don't need those fire extinguishers.' When someone asks, 'Do you really think there will be a terrorist act or a school shooting here?' I just point to the fire exit and say 'Do you really think there will be a fire here?' No, I don't think there will ever be a fire here. But we would be morally, criminally negligent if we did not prepare for that possibility. And the same is far, far truer of school violence."
"If a major terrorist attack on a school is successful, the terrorists can impact every family and every school in America, disrupting our economy and way of life unlike any other conventional attack. It is our job to prevent that and to protect our kids, and this [seminar]) is a key tool to make that possible."
Buckeye Firearms Foundation presents John Giduck in an eye-opening, one-day seminar ...
Terror at Beslan: The Russian School Massacre that Could Happen in America
Date: Saturday, June 11, 2011
Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (one hour break for lunch)
Location: Holiday Inn - 4501 Eastgate Blvd., Cincinnati, OH 45245 (1-513-752-4400)
Cost: $79 per attendee (adults only please)
Proceeds benefit Buckeye Firearms Foundation.
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