A school shooting at a public school in Brazil’s Acre state left two women dead and two others wounded Tuesday, authorities said. Police said a 13-year-old student was detained after the attack at Instituto Sao Jose in Rio Branco, the state capital. The state government did not release the victims’ identities.
Acre’s government said in a statement that the 13-year-old student admitted carrying out the attack. The two fatalities, authorities said, were female staff members who died at the scene. Another staff member and a student were injured by gunfire and taken to a hospital, authorities said.
Officials said the suspect was detained and that the teenager used a gun owned by a legal guardian. Local media reported that the weapon belonged to the teenager’s stepfather, who was also detained, according to police.
In a statement, Acre Gov. Mailza Assis said the state expressed “deep solidarity with the victims’ families, the school community of Instituto Sao Jose and all education professionals affected by this incident.” The government did not provide additional details about the suspect’s motives or the victims’ conditions.
The attack occurred amid broader concerns about gun violence and school safety in Brazil. Last year, two teenagers died after a shooting at a school in Ceara state in northeastern Brazil, and Ceara recorded another shooting in 2022, when a teenager opened fire on three classmates, killing one.