Hero officer kept Brazilian school massacre from being even worse

April 07, 2011

By the CNN Wire Staff

Thursday's massacre of 11 students at a Brazilian school could have been even worse, were it not for the heroic actions of a military policeman, according to a statement from the Rio de Janeiro state governor's office.

Third Sgt. Marcio Alexandre Alves, 38, and a colleague raced to the Municipal School Tasso da Silveira in Realengo after they were approached by a student two blocks away from the school, who asked them for help, the governor's office said.

Upon arriving at the school, Alves heard gunshots and quickly climbed to the second floor. There, he confronted the heavily armed gunman coming out of a classroom, keeping the suspect from ascending to the third floor, where there were more students, the statement said.

Alves said he shot the gunman in the abdomen. When the suspect fell, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head, according to the statement.

At that point, Alves looked for a second suspect he had heard was in the building, but that information turned out to be unfounded, the governor's office said.

Alves, an 18-year veteran of police work, said seeing the slain children gave him a great feeling of sadness.

"Scenes that will not be easily erased from my memory. I have a son that age," Alves said. "But it was also a sense of accomplishment. I wish I would've arrived there sooner (to save more children). Had I gotten there five minutes earlier, I could have avoided some deaths," the statement said.

Brazil's president has announced three days of national mourning.

Beyond the 11 students killed, another 13 were injured, four of whom were in critical condition, Rio Health Secretary Sergio Cortes said.

The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police released the names of nine of the massacred students to Agencia Brasil. the official state-run media. They are:

Karine Chagas de Oliveira, 14

Rafael Pereira da Silva, 14

Milena dos Santos Nascimento, 14

Mariana Rocha de Souza, 12

Atanazio Larissa Santos

Bianca Tavares Rocha, 13

Luiza Paula da Silveira, 14

Laryssa Silva Martins, 13

Gessica Guedes Pereira

"The greatest difficulty is the family's pain. It is very hard to identify a son or a daughter in a situation like this," Cortes said. "It's a state of general commotion here, families, doctors, everyone."

Several of the children will be buried Friday at locations and times still to be determined, Agencia Brasil reported.

font: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-07/world/brazil.school.shooting_1_alves-silveira-massacre?_s=PM:WORLD