A man attacked a daycare center in Blumenau, southern Brazil, on Wednesday, killing four children, the minister of the Presidency’s Social Communication Secretariat, Paulo Pimenta, said on Twitter.
Another child is in a serious condition after the attack, Pimenta said.
Jorginho Mello, the governor of the state of Santa Catarina, reported on Twitter that the “murderer” who attacked children at the Cantinho Bom Pastor day care center had been arrested.
Mello expressed his solidarity with the victims. “May God comfort the hearts of all families in this time of deep sorrow,” he wrote.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also sent his condolences after the attack.
“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 wrote on Twitter.