MAN KILLED AFTER TAKING CHILDREN HOSTAGE AT KINDERGARTEN

CURITIBA, OCTOBER 10 /SRNA/ – Brazilian police shot and killed a knife-wielding man who attacked a preschool in the southern city of Curitiba and took 13 children hostage, local authorities said.

According to the Public Security Secretariat of the Brazilian state of Paraná, the incident occurred yesterday in the São Braz neighbourhood, and the man was killed at around 6:20 p.m. local time, the Brazilian news portal G1 reported.

The children were rescued, and according to a statement from the Military Police, none of them sustained serious injuries.

The statement said that the man poured an inflammable liquid around the room where the children were located and intended to set them on fire.

The area around the facility was cordoned off during the police operation, while members of the Special Police Operations Battalion /BOPE/ attempted to negotiate with the suspect. A police helicopter also took part in the operation.

It is not yet known whether the suspect was related to any of the children attending the facility.

The Curitiba municipal authorities are providing assistance to the children’s families and have also enlisted the help of psychologists.

Parents of pupils at a nearby school were asked to collect their children and evacuate the building.