Man who killed 12 students in Rio left video
RIO DE JANEIRO—Two days before Wellington Oliveira walked into his former school and shot 12 students to death, he recorded a video in which he rambled in an emotionless tone about his plans for the attack and said it was part of a fight “against cruel, cowardly people.”
The video, obtained by Globo TV, first aired Tuesday night and posted on the station’s website Wednesday, shows a close-up of the young man with his back against a wall in a video he apparently recorded himself. He’s cleanshaven, in a white shirt, and speaks in a slow, flat voice that betrays nothing of the massacre he has planned.
“The fight for which many brothers in the past have died, and I will die, is not exclusively for what is known as bullying,” he says in the video. “Our fight is against cruel, cowardly people who take advantage of the kindness, the innocence, the weakness of people who are incapable of defending themselves.”
He says he shaved the beard he had been wearing because he was planning to scout out the school and didn’t want to attract attention. Oliveira said he had been there months before and went again three days before the shooting. He dates the video as Tuesday, April 5, two days before the shooting.
A second video, made last July and recovered by police from Oliveira’s computer, was released Wednesday. It shows Oliveira sitting on a couch, reading from a prepared text — and signals he began planning the attack months ago.
In it, Oliveira says he will seek revenge in the name of those who, like him, have been “humiliated, attacked and disrespected, especially in schools, just for being different.”
He makes a chilling promise: “People will find out who I am in the most radical way.”
Police are still combing through written material found in Oliveira’s home, and through his computer files to determine a motive.
Neighbors and relatives remembered Oliveira — who killed himself after he was shot in the legs by a policeman — as a quiet, introverted young man who spent his time with computers.
“He was very alone, absent, very closed up,” said one of Oliveira’s five siblings in an interview with Globo TV. He did not want to identify himself. The family is deeply upset and afraid of being targeted for Oliveira’s actions. The sibling said Oliveira had been adopted as a baby and had a history of psychological problems. They have not yet claimed Oliveira’s body, which remains at the city morgue.
One of the students hospitalized after the shooting was released Wednesday, the Rio state health department said. Five others remained in hospitals, two of them in critical condition.
The chilling video Oliveira made last week was broadcast on newspaper websites and TV stations as the archbishop of Rio de Janeiro celebrated Mass on Wednesday morning before a crowd of 2,000 in front of the Tasso da Silveira School.
Archbishop Orani Tempesta called for those present to work toward creating an environment of safety and calm in the neighborhood, so the school could go back to being a refuge for children.
“This place has to become again a place where children can study in peace,” he said.
The highway police officer who responded to a child’s call for help and was able to shoot Oliveira in the legs, preventing him from continuing his attack, also asked for the school to continue its mission.
“To the parents, the students, I ask that they not abandon this school,” said the officer, Marcio Alves. “You’ll find here the strength to recover.”
Parents and relatives of the 12 children who died also spoke, many crying as they did.
The Mass ended with a prayer recited by all, including representatives of various religious groups. Police helicopters showered the congregation with red rose petals.
If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please reach out to the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH). Their crisis hotlines are available at 1553 (Luzon-wide landline toll-free), 0917-899-USAP (8727), 0966-351-4518, and 0908-639-2672. For more information, visit their website: (https://doh.gov.ph/NCMH-Crisis-Hotline)
Alternatively, you can contact Hopeline PH at the following numbers: 0917-5584673, 0918-8734673, 88044673. Additional resources are available at ngf-mindstrong.org, or connect with them on Facebook at Hopeline PH.
