Four children between the ages of four and seven were killed after a man with an axe scaled the wall and entered a creche in southern Brazil on Wednesday. Five children were also injured in the attack. The 25-year-old attacker surrendered to the police after the rampage.
Police said three boys - two aged four and one aged five - and one girl aged seven were killed, Reuters reported.
Four of the injured children between the ages of three to five were being treated in a hospital and were reported in stable condition, while a fifth child had minor injuries, police said.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the attack a "monstrosity."
"A tragedy like this is unacceptable, an absurd act of hate and cowardice ... an act of violence against innocent and defenseless children," Lula said in a Twitter post.
Fearing their children might be among the victims, desperate parents rushed to the day-care center in the city of Blumenau in the state of Santa Catarina, as police and firefighters investigated the situation.
"Thank God my daughter was not among the victims," one father told reporters. "She is fine physically, but emotionally destroyed. How am I going to get this out of her head?" he added.
The police said the attacker had a history of violence and drugs, and had stabbed his stepfather in March 2021.
The attack came nearly a week after a 13-year-old student stabbed a teacher to death and wounded five others in a Sao Paulo school.
13 School Shooting Incidents In 2023
The recent mass shooting in US’ Nashville, which claimed the lives of 6 people including three children and three adults, has taken the overall mass shooting toll in the country to 129 in 2023 and is the 13th incident of gun violence in a school this year.
As per a report by DailyMail, California, Texas and Florida reported 12 mass shootings each this year, while Louisiana witnessed 11, and Illinois suffered eight incidents of gun violence.