Rio families prepare to bury the dead

The Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, is expected to attend the funerals of the 12 children killed by a gunman in Rio Twenty-four hours after 13 people died in the worst school massacre in Brazilian history, the victims’ families are preparing to bury their dead. Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, is expected to travel to Rio to attend the wakes of 12 students killed during Thursday’s shooting inside the Tasso da Silveira school in Realengo, western Rio. The body of the killer, who reportedly committed suicide after being shot by police, remains unclaimed in the city morgue. As police attempted to piece together a profile of the 23-year-old gunman, named as Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, further details emerged of the slaughter inside the school. Students said Oliveira – a former pupil now dubbed “the monster of Realengo” by local tabloids – entered the building at around 8am claiming to be giving a lecture. After talking to one former teacher he made his way up a flight of stairs to classroom three where students, mostly girls, were lined up, and shot many at point-blank range in the head and chest. Mateus Moraes, 13, told the O Dia newspaper that Oliveira had deliberately killed a number of girls but spared the boys. “He killed the girls with shots to the head,” Moraes said. “The boys, he just shot to injure, in the arms or the legs. “I asked him not to kill me and he said: ‘Relax, Fatty, I’m not going to kill you,’” added Moraes. “As he reloaded the gun I just prayed. God saved me.” Grisly photographs taken inside classroom three were printed by one local newspaper and CCTV footage showing part of the rampage was also leaked, although editors decided most of the images were too disturbing to publish. The photographs showed open textbooks and backpacks scattered on top of a jumble of blood-stained chairs and desks. Golden bullet-cases littered the floor. Jade Ramos Araújo, 12, was sitting a science test when Oliveira burst into her classroom, wearing a dark blue jacket and with an ammunition belt strapped to his waist. “He was shouting at the children: ‘Face the wall because I’m going to kill you,’” she told the Brazilian news website IG. “The children shouted, begging: ‘Don’t kill me, young man.’ “It was like a waterfall of blood, with blood flowing like water. The were lots of dead people on the stairs, more girls than boys.” Another 12-year-old student told the Guardian the gunman had been “well-dressed”. “He came into our room and said he was going to kill everyone. I thought I was going to die.” Asked if she would return to study at Tasso da Silveira school, the girl shook her head. “I am leaving.” Brazil’s justice minister, José Eduardo Cardozo, promised a government “crusade” against gun ownership. “We have to fight strongly against this culture of armament, against this culture that makes people … commit this kind of atrocity,” he told reporters. Brazil Dilma Rousseff Tom Phillips guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 8, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.