Police officer who ended Brazil school massacre credits God

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Apr 11, 2011 / 12:00 pm

The 33-year-old policeman who ended the school massacre in Brazil explained that God put him and another officer in the area to prevent an even greater tragedy.

Officer Marcio Alexandre Alvez told local reporters, “it was God who put us there. You can be certain that if we had not acted quickly, this attacker would have killed many more students.”

The April 7 massacre at an elementary school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil left 13 people dead, including 12 students.

Alvez said he was on traffic patrol when two wounded students approached him. The two boys said they were injured by a man shooting students at a nearby school.

Alvez and another officer helped the students, then ran to the school where they could hear gunfire. “When I got to the second floor, I saw the killer aim his gun at me. I fired and I think I hit him in the stomach.

“He fell to the ground and shot himself in the head,” the officer told the Brazilian newspaper, O Estadão de Sao Paulo.

“I have mixed feelings. I am sad because I have children of the same age as the kids who were killed.” At the same time, “I know I did my duty. I got there right when the killer was getting ready to head to the third floor to kill more students hiding in classrooms,” Alvez said.

Police found 66 bullets in Wellington de Oliveira’s pockets, which they say he intended to fire during the school rampage.

Despite all the praise and gratitude from parents and teachers, Alvez added, “I don’t feel like a hero. I just did what I was taught: to protect society.”