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April 5 (UPI) -- A man with a hatchet killed at least four children in a kindergarten in southern Brazil, authorities said on Wednesday. Jorginho Mello, the governor of Santa Catarina confirmed the deaths in a tweet, adding that three were injured and the suspect had been arrested.
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"It is with great sadness that I receive the regrettable news that the Cantinho do Bom Pastor private daycare center, in Blumenau, has been invaded by an assassin who attacked children and staff," he said.
Local authorities said that those killed included three boys and a girl between the ages of 5 and 7.
Police said that the 25-year-old entered the school around 9 a.m. local time and also injured four more children. He then turned himself in to the police.
Authorities said that the man jumped over a wall to the kindergarten and then appeared to target the children at random.
One teacher told reporters she locked some of the children in a room to protect them from the attacker.
The teacher also said that the man carried other weapons, but she did not say what they were.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
"There is no greater pain than that of a family that loses its children or grandchildren, even more so in an act of violence against innocent and defenseless children," Lula said in a tweet.
