Surviving students begin receiving care this Monday (21)

Valdirene dos Santos was working at the grocery store in front of his house when he heard the first shots. A few seconds later, he saw that children and teenagers in uniform were running away from the only municipal school in the town of Serra dos Correias, in the rural area of ​​Heliópolis. One of the students is her 12-year-old niece, who survived the massacre on Friday (18). On the first working day after the tragedy with four deaths, the community seems to breathe a charged air, which absorbs the weight of an episode never imagined in the locality.

The Dom Pedro I Municipal School of Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education functions as the economic and social center of the village of around 1,000 inhabitants. It is the teaching unit that welcomes students not only from Serra dos Correias, but from other rural communities, such as Farmácia and Viuveira. Many of the adults work at the school or in activities related to it. The father of one of the victims of the attack, for example, takes school transport.

It is no exaggeration to say that when a 14-year-old student opened fire in one of the classrooms and killed three classmates, the entire community was injured. The grief is shared by families of survivors and acquaintances, who are touched by the pain of other residents. On Saturday afternoon (19), it was as if the suffering reached its peak. The bodies of Jonathan Gama dos Santos, Fernanda Sousa Gama and Adriele Vitória Silva were laid to rest in family homes.

In the procession to the wake, the coffins that held the bodies of the girls, both 15 years old, came together. A saddened community full of unknowns about the attack followed the route. “They were so good friends that they arranged the funeral at the same time to meet in the middle of the village. It was a beautiful ceremony, with lots of people and solidarity”, says a resident.

There is still no deadline for the return of activities at Escola Municipal Dom Pedro I. The five survivors of the massacre, who were in the classroom during the shooting, began receiving care this Monday (21). A team made up of psychologists, educational psychologists and social workers arrived in the city to welcome the students. Meanwhile, silence prevails at times when students should be entering and leaving school.

For sociologist Miriam Abramovay, a PhD in Educational Sciences who researches school crimes, it is noteworthy that the episode took place in a community the size of Serra dos Correias. “In general, attacks happen in places with larger populations. But we cannot forget that this type of crime happens through repetition and the desire to be like other cases”, he analyzes.

In September 2022, a similar case was recorded in Barreiras, in western Bahia. A 14-year-old student broke into a school and shot his classmates. Student Geane da Silva Brito, who was 14 years old and used a wheelchair, died in the action.

The city of Heliópolis, with 12 thousand inhabitants, has a school enrollment rate of 98.4% for the age group between 6 and 14 years old. There are 1,140 students enrolled in the city’s Elementary School and 126 teachers. The data are from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and refer to last year.

Accessing residents who share their grief is no easy task. There are many who are still shaken to tell what they experienced last Friday (18). Case of a woman who has worked at the municipal school for 27 years and the mother of a student who survived the attack. Contacted by the report, they preferred not to give interviews. For Valdirene dos Santos, who has a niece who studies at the school, the community is in shock.

“I watched all these boys be born and grow up. It’s a huge shock because we think these things only happen in big cities,” he says. She was one of the people who called the police after the shots were fired and the students fled. In addition to the commotion, residents still share a feeling of guilt, as Valdirene reveals.

“The police took about 40 minutes to arrive. There are a lot of people blaming themselves for not having entered the school and stopped him [o atirador]. Maybe, if we had gathered a group to go in, we could have stopped him and saved the boys”, he laments. The atmosphere of sadness contrasts with the community, known for being welcoming.

There are still those who are afraid that the episode will repeat itself. “We feel vulnerable. We don’t know what could happen,” says a resident. The motives are being investigated by the police.

In a statement, the State Education Secretariat (SEC) stated that it is working with the Ministry of Education (MEC) and the city of Heliópolis to serve the school community and families affected by the tragedy. The MEC even provided a team specializing in disasters to deal with traumatic and violent situations in school spaces.

On Friday afternoon (18), a 14-year-old student entered the municipal school and shot three classmates, who died. The victims were Jonathan Gama dos Santos, Adriele Vitória Silva Ferreira and Fernanda Sousa Gama – all 14 years old. The bodies of the young people were laid to rest in the homes of family members. The shooter took his own life shortly afterwards. The motivations for the crime are being investigated by the police.

Prosecutor Alison Andrade states that there is still no deadline for the return of classes. On the day of the incident, Governor Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT) decreed three days of mourning in the state. In situations of this type, it is common for the educational institution to be reopened to welcome employees, initially, and only then for the return of students.

“There is no way to determine when classes will return and how this will happen. What we can guarantee is that, starting tomorrow (21), we will meet to jointly decide on solutions. Students cannot miss classes, after all, it is the end of the year”, explained the prosecutor.