12-year-old identified for “indiscriminate attack”
News just coming through this afternoon is that six pupils (and possibly one teacher) have been stabbed at a school in Azambuja.
A source for Civil Protection has confirmed to SIC Notícias that at least one child is in a serious condition.
The children are aged between 12-14. Five of them are girls, one is a boy. Initially, the details came through differently, but this latest tally has been confirmed by Azambuja mayor Silvino Lúcio (see below).
It is unclear whether the teacher was stabbed, or simply required medical assistance for an indisposition provoked by the incident.
GNR police have reportedly detained a 12-year-old pupil believed to have been responsible for the stabbing*.
The incident happened at around 2.30pm. Five ambulances attended.
One ‘eye witness’ (a mother of a pupil not involved in the stabbing, and younger than the pupils involved) has been telling SIC of the ‘horror’ of the situation, with “lots of blood (…) children covered in blood”. She repeated time and again: “It was horrible”. The woman appeared not to know what caused the incident. She said she grabbed her child and left the school as fast as she could.
Azambuja mayor Silvino Lúcio has given SIC a few more details: the incident arose from an argument, he said, after which the alleged attacker went home, and later returned.
Inside the child’s backpack he was carrying a ‘bullet proof vest’ and a knife. None of this was apparent as he arrived in school, as the items were all concealed inside his backpack.
Once inside, however, he unpacked the vest, put it on, brought out the knife and apparently started stabbing colleagues indiscriminately.
“There was no target, no objective…” said Silvino Lúcio, saying “as the victims appeared, they were attacked”.
Silvino Lúcio stresses that none of the children are in a life-threatening situation, albeit they received stab wounds and injuries, to their legs mainly. At least one was stabbed in the stomach.
The child responsible for the attack was ‘restrained’ by a member of staff, the mayor added.
Silvino Lúcio also suggested that the child’s ‘bullet-proof vest’ belongs to his father. This does not necessarily mean the child’s father is a member of the security forces, he added. “I have not heard that”, he told SIC.
*Initial reports suggested GNR police had arrested the child. This may not be the case, as he is still a minor. What does appear to have happened is that the child is being ‘held’ in a room with the GNR as agents await the arrival of PJ judicial police, who will be leading this inquiry.
Curiously, interviews held outside the school with parents have brought the information that a) this particular pupil was already known for violent attacks. One father said he was actually “relieved” that the child had now been “removed” from the school (which is not the case. He may have meant that he is relieved authorities now will take measures to ensure more security for pupils); b) that violence in local schools is commonplace. One father told SIC that “incidents like this are happening in another local school every day, and no one says anything about them…”
Both the prime minister and President Marcelo have repudiated this incident.
Writing over social network ‘X’, Luís Montenegro said: “I condemn in the strongest terms the attack that took place at Azambuja School and wish the injured pupils a full and speedy recovery. This was an isolated act and a phenomenon that is foreign to Portuguese society, but one that should make all those who act in the public arena reflect with a sense of responsibility. The government remains fully committed to protecting citizens and the structural institutions of our country, such as schools”.
The official website of President Marcelo carried the following message: “The President of the Republic regrets and repudiates this afternoon’s incident at a secondary school near Lisbon. No circumstances can legitimise such an act of violence.
“The family, like the school, the local community and other institutions essential to our common life cannot be dominated by violence, aggression, the violation of people’s rights, of all people, nor can any violation of these justify violence. And we must do everything we can to ensure that behaviour such as that experienced today, involving the physical assault of colleagues, a teacher and another school worker, is not repeated.
“The situation must be properly investigated and deserves not only condemnation, but also reflection on the need to educate for peace, concord, tolerance and civility”.
natasha.donn@portugalresident.com
