A 12-year-old boy stabs six classmates at a school in Portugal

Six minors (five girls and one boy) aged between 11 and 14 were stabbed on Tuesday at around 3:30 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time) in a school in Azambuja, some 50 kilometres from Lisbon, by a 12-year-old classmate. A girl of the same age suffered the most serious injuries to the chest and head, although her life is not in danger. She is in hospital at Santa Maria in Lisbon. The rest of the victims received treatment at Vila Franca de Xira hospital for light cuts to their arms, legs and chest.

The aggressor was a classmate who was in seventh grade, the equivalent of 1st year of ESO in Spain, and is 12 years old, according to the mayor of Azambuja, Silvino Lúcio, confirmed to the newspaper PublicThe minor went home to eat and in the afternoon he showed up at school wearing a bulletproof vest and a backpack. According to the mayor, when he reached the classroom area, he began to indiscriminately attack his classmates with a knife until he was neutralized by a school assistant.

Silvino Lúcio also explained to the Expresso weekly that the attacker did not have a violent history that would suggest “he could commit an act of this nature.” He belongs to a structured family and his mother is a teacher at another school, according to the mayor. The motives for the attack are still unknown.

The school posted a brief note on its website stating that what had happened was “an isolated incident” and that classes would resume as normal on Wednesday. A team of psychologists went to the scene to assist the students and the school staff. The attack occurred on the day the Agrupamento de Escolas de Azambuja returned to school, which had been delayed due to the vandalism they had suffered last weekend.

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro condemned the attack in a tweet, saying it was an isolated incident and “a phenomenon strange to Portuguese society, which should make all those who act in public spaces reflect responsibly.”