Updated on: May 6, 2026 / 6:35 AM EDT / CBS/AP
A school shooting Tuesday in Acre state in northern Brazil left two women dead and two others injured, authorities said. The state government said a 13-year-old student admitted carrying out the attack at Instituto São José, a public school in Rio Branco, the state capital.
The two fatalities were female school staff who died at the scene. Another staff member and an 11-year-old student were wounded and taken to a hospital; the child was shot in the leg. Officials did not disclose the victims’ identities.
Police said the suspect was detained and used a gun owned by a legal guardian. Local media reported the weapon belonged to the teenager’s stepfather, who was also detained. Lieutenant Colonel Felipe Russo of the Acre military police said the suspect fired several shots in a hallway leading to the principal’s office and surrendered to police after the attack.
Eduardo Rodrigues Cavalcante, a receptionist at a hotel next to the school, described scenes of terror as some students tried to escape by jumping a six-meter wall separating the school from the hotel. “Only one person managed to jump over and take refuge here in the hotel. The other people were left on the school roof trying to escape,” the 19-year-old said, adding he heard “gunshots and a lot of screaming.”
Images released by local media showed emergency responders evacuating a woman on a stretcher and distraught family members and community members outside the school. Acre Gov. Mailza Assis expressed solidarity with the victims’ families, the school community and education professionals affected by the incident.
Officials said classes at all state schools were suspended for three days and psychological support teams were mobilized to assist students and teachers.
Brazil has seen a rise in attacks on educational institutions in recent years. Notable incidents include a September 2025 shooting in Ceará that killed two teenagers and wounded three; an October 2023 school shooting in São Paulo that left a 17-year-old dead and three others wounded; a 2023 knife attack near a school in Minas Gerais; an April 2023 daycare axe attack in Santa Catarina that killed four children ages 3 to 7; and a 2022 attack by a former student that killed four and wounded 12 in two schools, in which the suspect wore a swastika and had planned the attacks, police said.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.