Twelve dead in school massacre
Posted in Brazil Facts, News, Rio de Janeiro on 09. Apr, 2011
Hi all,
Just recently I wrote here that violence in Rio is largely confined to the favelas and is “rational” in the sense that it is primarily driven by the profit motive, as rival drug gangs battle for control. (See post “You think Brazil is dangerous?“)
While I will stand by those words, senseless violence exists here as well. On Thursday a lone gunman, Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, 23, entered the Tasso de Silveira school in west Rio, which he had attended as a youth, and began shooting students. He came equipped with two handguns and speed loaders. In the end, 12 students, 10 of them girls, died, all of them between the ages of 12 and 14.
Menezes had no criminal record, and the motive for the attack remains unclear. Evidently Menezes was the victim of bullying when he attended the school. Also, it appears that he had just discovered that he was HIV positive, which could have been a trigger.
Menezes evidently gained access to the school by sayng that he was to give a presentation there. As he was an alumnus, he was allowed entry.
After shooting the students in their classrooms, Menezes turned his gun on himself, thankfully.
In the wake of the shooting, there are calls for tighter gun control. Brazilians may apply for gun permits for sef defense, but the guns are to remain in the home, unless the applicant’s job is deemed dangerous, in which case he can carry on the weapon on his person.
It remains to be seen if any changes in the laws wil in fact be made. The numerous similar massacres in the US have never triggered any meaningful changes in gun control.
More soon.
John
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John, I am afraid you are incorrect in stating that “similar massacres in the United States have never triggered any meaningful changes in gun control.” On the contrary, 26 states have enacted stronger gun purchase regulations in the last five years. Secondly, there is now a ban on assault type weapons in 42 states as well as the purchase, without license and criminal records check, of ammunition for this type of weapon. People in the US, and I am sure in Brazil, are equally horrified by these random acts of murder by usually deeply mentally troubled individuals. Lobbying groups in the US, such as the Brady Handgun Coalition, have been successful in implementing violence prevention programs in communities including school systems. Lastly, both the FBI and ATF federal agencies have launched extensive record-keeping programs on the purchase and shipment of handguns and other weapons in the US. Most mass shooting in any country can be directly related to individuals who needed counseling, psychiatric care, etc. and never received it. I am happy to report that there does now seem to be a greater sensitivity in US schools to identify troubled students and find them the necessary resources to help them before an act of random violence. The Dept of Education in the US launched a fantastic program for teachers and students to educate them on how to intervene with bullies and other students displaying aberrant behavior. Still, like Brazil, the US is a huge country which respects the rights of individuals to conduct themselves responsibly, and sometimes the legal and social barriers to intervening in an adult’s life is not triggered until a tragedy occurs.
Hi Gary,
Thanks for your comment. You are obviously well-versed on the subject, and do not seem to be opposed to trying to control access to firearms. I’ve never bought the old saw that “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” Certainly as you say, most mass shootings can be related to a deeply disturbed individual. But the truth is that fists and knives don’t permit the rapid killing of a dozen individuals as guns do. I hope that US and Brazilian efforts at gun control are successful. And trying to identify and treat likely perpetrators, while a challenge, is certainly worth attempting.