The gunman was identified as 23-year-old Wellington Oliveira, who had once attended the Tasso da Silveira school in a working-class neighborhood in western Rio. Oliveira then took his own life after police gunfire struck his legs and sent him toppling down some stairs, but not before carrying out what crime experts are calling the worst school massacre in Brazil's history.
No motive was known, but authorities said the shooter left a rambling and mostly incoherent letter at the scene indicating he wanted to kill himself. Edmar Peixoto, the deputy mayor of western Rio, said the letter also stated the gunman was infected with the AIDS virus.
It was the worst school shooting in Brazil and would have been deadlier if the gunman had not been shot in the legs by a police officer, who said the man then fell down some stairs and shot himself in the head.
Images taken with a cell phone and posted on YouTube showed students fleeing wildly, screaming for help, many with their white and blue school shirts soaked in blood.
The dead included 10 girls and two boys, plus the gunman, according to the Health and Civil Defense department. Those killed were between the ages of 12 and 15. One of the boys died at a hospital about 12 hours after the shooting.
 |
| Hundreds of distraught parents rushed to Tasso da Silveira school for word of loved ones. Several people fainted amid the harrowing scenes / AP Source: AP |
 |
| Source: AP |
 |
| Source: AP |
AIDS Infected Gunman Kills 12 Children in Brazil