The first known attack on schools in Brazil took place 21 years ago, and since then there have been 23 other similar cases. In total, the episodes claimed 137 victims and 45 people died. The data were collected by the Sou da Paz Institute, in an unprecedented mapping released today (22). The survey shows the greater destructive potential of firearms, which became more accessible with the easing of rules promoted in 2019. Revolvers and pistols were used in 11 of the episodes and caused three times more deaths than cold weapons, such as knives, which appeared in ten occurrences. Firearms were responsible for the deaths of 34 people (76%), while white weapons killed 11 people (24%) in attacks on schools. According to the data, the most used weapon was the .38 revolver, pointed out by the institute as the most sold in the Brazilian market, for decades, and, until today, widely used by private security companies. According to the entity, such a revolver appeared in 53% of the attacks. Other firearms used were .40 pistol (20%), .32 revolver (13%), .38 pistol (7%) and .22 pistol (7%). The pistol is similar to a revolver and pistol, also having a short barrel. In all, 80% of the weapons fall into the categories that, until May 2019, were permitted for use by civilians. Of the three .40 caliber pistols, which before 2019 were restricted to use, two were owned by relatives working in the security forces and one of them was registered by a person with a CAC (Collector, Shooter and Hunter) certificate. In at least two of the cases involving firearms, there are reports that the aggressor’s father had taught him how to shoot, even though he was a minor, as highlighted by Sou da Paz. In six out of ten cases, the perpetrators of the crimes already had the firearms used in the attacks at hand, as they belonged to family members who lived in the same house as them. In 40% of cases, the weapons belonged to a security agent and in 20% they were stolen from the owner and resold or sold directly by him. Regarding the period of attacks, what the institute shows is an increase in occurrences from 2019. Between 2002 and 2019, seven attacks were recorded and, in the last four years, from 2019 to this year, the number more than doubled , rising to 17. In the first four months of this year alone, there were six cases, the same number recorded throughout last year. Gender Another revelation from the mapping concerns the gender identity of the perpetrators of the attacks. Men or boys were responsible for all acts, which suggests, for the executive director of Sou da Paz, Carolina Ricardo, the need for mobilization to disassociate the notion of masculinity from that of imposition and demonstration of force. “We know that, of course, the weapon alone is not a great motivator, but it is a catalyst and, in some cases, we also identified that the aggressor sought, tried to acquire the weapon. In the case of attacks, it is much more lethal, it generates many more deaths, it is an artifact of interest to the aggressors, because, precisely, it increases the lethal potential and makes these aggressors more powerful, if you can say that,” he says. “The weapon, in the hand of a civilian, much more than guaranteeing legitimate defense, ends up being used for the wrong, wrong purposes”, she adds. Still on the profile of the perpetrators of the attacks, 88% were committed by only one person, with an average age of 16 years, who was a student or former student of the school targeted by the attack. In addition, when designing them, the aggressors place people with whom they have some bond, such as students (59%) as targets. Recommendations As suggestions to face the seriousness and complexity of factors that permeate the attacks on schools, the Instituto Sou da Paz recommends the following: – Make digital platforms jointly responsible. – Create police teams trained in monitoring social networks with the capacity to perform analysis of risk, for triage and preventive action.- Strengthen the school patrol, and the links between the school management and local battalions.- Train and establish an action protocol so that military police officers can respond to these events in order to eliminate the threat as quickly as possible, prepare relief and evacuation of victims.- Establish specific programs for students’ mental health and mediation and restorative justice in schools to deal with conflicts and bullying, which must be conducted by professionals dedicated to this activity, without overloading teachers with more of these attributions.-Train teachers and staff to be able to identify behaviors that need to trigger actions in the school community.- Create actions to instruct people to avoid passing on rumors and messages without identified origin, to avoid panic.- Strenghten the control and inspection of the purchase of firearms and ammunition to restrict access to more lethal instruments by the aggressors.- Review facilitations given for allowing teenagers (from 14 years old) to shooting clubs, even if accompanied by a guardian.
Agência Brasil
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