A stabbing at a school in Calama, in Chile’s northern Antofagasta region, killed at least one person and injured four others on Friday, according to police. The attack took place at about 10:40 a.m. local time at the Instituto Obispo Silva Lezaeta, prompting the school to be evacuated and classes to be canceled, Chile’s Carabineros said.
Carabineros said the attacker was a 12th-grade student who targeted three students and two members of school staff. Police said that when officers arrived, the attacker was subdued and detained. The death was of a 59-year-old school supervisor, Carabineros said, while police said no immediate information was available on the condition of the four injured.
Antofagasta governor Ricardo Díaz said the assailant was a student and told local channel 24 Horas that the situation was “extremely serious.” Díaz also said the attacker was carrying accelerant liquids, which investigators were using as a basis to work on a hypothesis that the attack was premeditated, according to the report.
In his comments, Díaz described the event as one that had a profound impact on Calama. He said, “This is an event that has a profound impact and affects the soul of the people of Calama, as nothing of this magnitude had ever occurred here before,” according to his interview with 24 Horas.
Authorities said they did not have details on the attacker’s motives at the time. Armed attacks in Chile are described as unusual, but the country has a history that includes school violence and student protests that can turn violent, with previous incidents involving explosives and shootings.
The report noted that in late 2024, more than 30 pupils were injured in an explosion caused by the manufacturing of incendiary devices intended for use at a student demonstration in Santiago. It also cited a May incident in the Bío Bío region in which three students were shot inside a school, described by authorities as the first school shooting in Chile.
No further details about the attacker’s identity or age were immediately released. Police continued investigating the circumstances of the attack in Calama after the school was evacuated and officers detained the student attacker.