Brazil police rescue 13 children after kindergarten hostage standoff, assailant dead

Military policemen stand guard as voters wait for the polls to open during the presidential election in Brasilia, Brazil October 4, 2026. Police in Brazil yesterday rescued 13 children who had been taken hostage in their kindergarten and killed the assailant who threatened to set fire to the building, officials said. — AFP pic

First Published: Saturday, 10 Oct 2026 9:43 AM MYT

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 10 — Police in Brazil yesterday rescued 13 children who had been taken hostage in their kindergarten and killed the assailant who threatened to set fire to the building, officials said.

The incident took place in the southern city of Curitiba.

“We successfully neutralised this person and saved the 13 children, who were taken to be checked out and given care by first responders,” the commander of the military police special forces unit in Parana state, Alexandre Lopes Dias, told reporters.

At least one of the children was wounded, he added.

The attacker arrived on a bicycle, jumped the gate at the municipal education centre for young children and barricaded himself into a room with the 13 kindergarteners.

He then spread a flammable substance in the room and held a lighter in his hand. He was carrying a knife and also what was initially believed to be a firearm, but later was found to be fake.

“During the entire negotiation, he stayed with all the children around him and one on his lap,” the police official said.

Talks lasted from 2.5 to three hours. The children became agitated and the attacker started hitting them, Lopes Dias told reporters.

“Once we realised that the kids were becoming increasingly upset, and that the attacker started assaulting them physically, we opted for a tactical intervention to avoid a greater problem,” he explained.

Images shown on local television stations revealed teachers and other school personnel ushering other children out of the facility.

Local media reported that several shots were fired, and heard what sounded like flash bangs.

Police said the assailant had been identified and was schizophrenic. His motive was not immediately clear, nor was it clear if he had ties to anyone at the kindergarten.

“The 13 children are alive and safe!” Curitiba Mayor Eduardo Pimentel wrote on Instagram.

“After anguishing and tense moments, this is the news we were all waiting for.”

Brazil has in recent years experienced multiple attacks on schools. In April 2023, a man killed four children with an ax at a day care in Blumenau, also in southern Brazil. — AFP