Suzano Massacre

The Suzano massacre, also known as the Suzano school massacre, was a school shooting and a failed bombing, that took place on March 13, 2019, at the Professor Raul Brasil State School in the Brazilian municipality of Suzano, São Paulo State, in which five students and two school staff members were killed. Before the attack, the perpetrators, 17-year-old Guilherme Taucci Monteiro and 25-year-old Luiz Henrique de Castro, killed Taucci's uncle. After killing most of their victims in the school, Taucci killed his partner and then committed suicide. Eleven additional people were injured by gunshots. Some were injured while trying to escape.

The attack was the second major and second deadliest school shooting in Brazil, after the Realengo massacre in 2011. It is also the ninth fatal school shooting in Brazilian history.

The shooting has inspired many copycat killings in and outside of Brazil.

Attack

Earlier in the day, at around 9 a.m. local time, the gunmen shot three times and killed Taucci's uncle, the shopkeeper Jorge Antônio Moraes, in a nearby car shop. The man was taken to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries, dying hours later. According to the investigation, Henrique was planning on killing a neighbor of his that was an electrician because they had had a misunderstanding months before. They had a pact, in which each one would kill someone before the school massacre. An hour and a half before the school attack, Henrique went to his neighbor's house. Finding the gate closed, he persistently called him out, but the man did not answer and so Luiz went away.

On the same day, one of the killers posted a series of photos on a social media platform, where he appeared with a skull mask, holding the firearm he would later use and doing a gun sign with his hand against his head. The two attackers then drove to the school in a white Chevrolet Onix that Henrique had legally rented at Localiza.

The crime occurred at around 9:40 a.m. local time on a Wednesday, March 13, 2019, in the Professor Rual Brasil State School, in Suzano, Greater São Paulo. Guilherme Taucci Monteiro, 17 years old, and Luiz Henrique de Castro, 25 years old, entered the building hooded, with combat boots and balaclavas with skulls. Taucci entered the building first. He then turned around and began shooting at two school staff members as well as several students at a distance of approximately in front of him, before entering the main patio in search of more potential victims. He disappeared from the camera and then moved on to the institution's linguistics center.

By this time, Henrique appeared on camera entering the building in a hurry while holding several weapons, including a compound bow, which he eventually dropped on the floor and was unused in the attack. He approached the wounded victims lying on the ground and struck them with a hatchet, at which point, fleeing students started to run from the patio towards the school entrance hall. On their way, they encountered Henrique, who was still in the entrance hall, at which point Henrique engaged in a fistfight with a female student before she fled. Other students who had hidden when they first heard gunshots were able to avoid being shot. Five students between 15 and 17 years old and two school staff members were killed.

According to the 2017 School Census, the institution had 358 students between 6th and 9th grade (middle school and freshman year) and 693 students in secondary school. The school was locked down by police, who searched it and found a .38 caliber revolver, speedloaders, a crossbow, a compound bow, Molotov cocktails, a hatchet and a wired bag. A bomb squad was dispatched to the scene and found that it was a fake explosive.

Perpetrators

Guilherme Taucci Monteiro (July 13, 2001 – March 13, 2019), then 17 years old, was an ex-student of the school and had dropped his studies due to bullying. He lived with his grandparents as his mother had addiction problems. Taucci liked goth culture and sympathized with Nazism. The father of Luiz Henrique, his best-friend and with whom he invaded the school, had promised to get him a job in the same service of Square cleaning and conservation in São Paulo. According to his grandfather, Taucci went to a LAN house with Henrique and did not find it weird that he had money for games or online shopping, because his grandson did some odd jobs. The last one had been as a vendor in a hotdog stand, where he earned 600 reais (USD$114). With the death of his grandmother four months before the attack, Taucci started showing sign of clinical depression. Taucci and Henrique had met when they were kids and, since then, were always together. Their days consisted of walking through the mall and regular visits to the neighborhood's LAN house, where they used to play first-person shooter games.

Luiz Henrique de Castro (March 16, 1993 – March 13, 2019), then 25 years old, was also an ex-student of the school. He lived with his parents, an older brother and his 80-year-old grandfather. According to his neighbors, he had a job gardening with a company in Eastern São Paulo. César Expedito, a friend of Henrique for 14 years, stated that he liked playing ball and video-games and that he never displayed any aggressive behavior. According to César, Henrique studied at Raul Brasil School for a year and then changed schools, never having been expelled and worked in Guaianases.

According to some reports, both perpetrators were influenced by ''Dogolachan'', an imageboard, where every participant is anonymous (Luiz was known as luhkrcher666 and Guilherme as 1guY-55chaN). The forum is known for its condoning of terrorism and violence, with content filled with intolerance towards minorities and sexism. They had planned the attack for a year and, inspired by the Columbine High School massacre, they hoped the attack would draw more attention than the Columbine massacre. In a statement from Taucci's mother, Taucci had reportedly been bullied because of his acne. She also stated that he had been harassed by a fellow pupil. Henrique was described by his father as "weak-minded and would do what the other people wanted". A third suspect, not directly involved in the attack, stated that the perpetrators also intended to carry out rapes. The perpetrators were seen wearing clothing resembling those worn by the main characters in ''Elephant'', a movie about a school shooting in which a murder-suicide between the shooters ends the movie.

The third suspect, a 17-year-old, was sentenced to spend 45 days in an institution. At the teenager's house, police found drawings of dead people, encrypted messages, and weapons very similar to the ones found in the two killers’ houses. A video showed Taucci and the third suspect going to a shooting range and training shots with air soft guns and bow and arrow, five days before the attack. According to the Police, the teenager had also participated in buying the hatchet used to injure students and teachers. After arresting the teenager, the Suzano station considered that he was the intellectual author of the school attack, alongside Taucci, even though the reason why he did not participate of the attack is not known. The defense of the teenager contested the accusations.

Victims

Two fatal victims were school staff members. The first victim to be shot was Marilena Ferreira Vieira Umezu, a pedagogical coordinator. The other staff member, Eliana Regina de Oliveira Xavier, was an inspector (school organization agent). Five high school students were killed, four of whom died at the site and one en route to a hospital.

The attack also left eleven students wounded who were taken to nearby hospitals. Two of these victims, who presented a more serious clinical condition, were transferred to Hospital das Clínicas in São Paulo. According to the police, Taucci, the youngest shooter, killed his partner Henrique and then committed suicide.

Deaths

''Source: G1''

Reactions

Many authorities, politicians, artists and other people expressed their condolences and commented on the tragedy. The attack was praised by neo-nazi groups, and Taucci's grave started being visited by admirers.

State government

João Doria, governor of São Paulo, canceled his routine activities and flew to Suzano in a helicopter along with Rossieli Soares, the state's Secretary of Education; Colonel Salles, military police commander; and army general João Camilo Pires de Campos. Doria lamented the attack and decreed 3 days of mourning in the state.

Federal government

President Jair Bolsonaro lamented the tragedy and expressed his condolences to the victims' families on a tweet posted 6 hours after the tragedy. Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez, Minister of Education, expressed solidarity: "My condolences to the families. I express my contempt towards that demonstration of violence. I'll be closely following the investigation". Onyx Lorenzoni, Chief of Staff, also tweeted his condolences. Damares Alves, Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, lamented the event and offered support by the Ministry.

Legislative power

Rodrigo Maia, President of the Chamber of Deputies, expressed his solidarity towards the families of victims and said that "it's time for Brazil to unite forces and competences to understand what happened and prevent new massacres like that one from occurring". Davi Alcolumbre, President of the Senate, expressed his condolences and tweeted: "I hope that the real causes behind that tragedy be discovered". As a result of the shooting, many congress members brought the question of gun control back into debate, with some criticizing the relaxation of gun laws.

São Paulo's federal congressman Júnior Bozella wanted to create a bill as a reaction to the tragedy, justifying that violent video games can lead the youth to commit "massive acts of violence". Júnior's proposal was criticized by several sectors, who considered as a "censorship setback" that could bring economic problems to Brazil.

Judicial power

Dias Toffoli, President of the Supreme Federal Court, read a note during an ordinary plenary section on March 13 in which he expressed his solidarity towards the families and friends of the victims and to society as a whole, which "is also a victim of that kind of tragedy". He also stated: "we can't let hatred enter our society".

Press

The tragedy was followed by Brazilian media and attracted attention of international media including BBC News, ''Le Figaro'', ''Focus'', ''El País'' and ''The Guardian''. Part of the press reflected on the fact that President Bolsonaro did not publicly talk about the tragedy as soon as it was confirmed. The post on his social media came after state ministers and the vice-president Hamilton Mourão addressed it.

Tribute

The lunch lady Silmara Silva de Moraes, that helped hide the students during the attack, received honors from the governor João Dória in 2020. In April 2021, she was the first education professional to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Copycat killings

The Suzano massacre would go on to inspire multiple copycats, with Henrique and Taucci being mentioned as an influence for men responsible for or suspected in other mass killings. Which include:
* Attack at the Eber Louzada Zippinotti Municipal School, August 19, 2022, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Henrique Lira Trad, an 18-year-old former student, invaded his former school with crossbows, molotov cocktails and knives. His plan was to kill "as many people as possible in the school" and force a confrontation with the police, where he would be killed. It is known that Henrique began planning his attack after the Suzano massacre, according to authorities.
*The Aracruz school shootings were a shooting spree that occurred on November 25, 2022, at two schools in Aracruz, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Four people were killed, and 11 others were injured. The suspect, Gabriel Rodrigues Castiglioni, a 16-year-old former student at one of the schools, was arrested approximately four hours later. Rodrigues was part of online true crime communities and was inspired by the Suzano massacre.
*Attack at Thomazia Montoro State School, March 27, 2023, Vila Sônia, São Paulo, Brazil: A 13-year-old student (whose identity was not revealed) stabbed four teachers, killing one, and injured another student with a knife. His X (Twitter) nickname was "Taucci", and he also was wearing a skull mask during the attack.
*Attack at Professor Helena Kolody School, June 19, 2023, Cambé, Paraná, Brazil: Marcos Vinícius da Silva Damas, a 21-year-old former student, shot and killed two 16-year-old students. Marcos mentioned the Suzano massacre in a notebook found by police.
* Technological University of Guadalajara attack, March 6, 2024, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico: Gabriel Alejandro Galaviz, a 20-year-old man, invaded a private university where he killed two female workers and injured another male worker with an ax and two knives. He also killed another woman at a motel before attacking at the university. Gabriel published pictures of Guilherme Taucci Monteiro and other school shooters on his Facebook profile. On August 5, 2024, he committed suicide while imprisoned.

See also

* 2019 in Brazil
* List of attacks related to secondary schools
* List of school massacres by death toll
* List of school shootings in Brazil

References

{{Reflist

2019 murders in Brazil
2010s mass shootings in South America
2019 mass shootings
2019 suicides
2019 deaths
Attacks in South America in 2019
Columbine High School massacre copycat crimes
Filmed killings
March 2019 crimes in South America
Mass murder in 2019
21st-century mass murder in Brazil
Mass shootings in Brazil
History of São Paulo (state)
Murder–suicides in Brazil
Far-right politics in Brazil
Neo-Nazism in Brazil
School shootings committed by pupils
School shootings in Brazil
Suicides by firearm in Brazil
Incidents of violence against boys
Attacks on schools in 2019
School massacres in South America
Perpetrators
Massacres in Brazil
Child murder in Brazil
Murder committed by minors
School shootings motivated by bullying