Suspect killed after 13 kindergarteners taken hostage, beaten in Brazil

Man spreads flammable liquid in a room with 13 children while holding a lighter as police try to negotiate.Published On 10 Oct 202610 Oct 2026Brazilian police have rescued 13 children who had been taken hostage at a kindergarten in the southern city of Curitiba after killing the suspect, who threatened to set fire to the building, according to officials.At least one of the children was wounded in Friday’s incident, the commander of the military police special forces unit in Parana state, Alexandre Lopes Dias, told reporters without elaborating on who or what injured the child.Parana police spokesperson Leticia Martins told journalists outside the kindergarten that the suspect jumped the gate on Friday, broke into a classroom and held 13 children hostage.He then spread a flammable substance in the room and held a lighter in his hand. He was carrying a knife and also what was initially believed to be a firearm, but later was found to be fake.“Our negotiating teams were in place but saw no alternative but to neutralise him,” said Martins, who did not specify whether the suspect had expressed a specific reason for his actions.[Al Jazeera]The incident took place in the neighbourhood of ...