Six students at a primary school in the municipality of Azambuja were stabbed by a classmate on Tuesday. A source from Civil Protection told us the one of them was in a serious condition and was taken to hospital.
Furthermore, a source from the Lezíria do Tejo Sub-regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command said that the students are between 12 and 14 years old.
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Condition of Injured Students
Our sources also confirm that a 12-year-old girl was taken to the Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon in a serious condition, with injuries to the chest and head. However, she is now stable and out of danger.
This young girl was initially transported to Vila Franca de Xira Hospital and was later transferred to Santa Maria Hospital.
Incident Details and Emergency Response
The incident took place at Elementary Schools 1, 2, and 3 in Azambuja, located in the Lisbon district, with the motives still unknown. Six ambulances, along with members of the Azambuja Fire Department and INEM, are currently at the scene.
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The perpetrator is a 7th-grade student who has been attending the school for three years. He is the son of a teacher from another school.
He entered the school after lunch, armed with a knife and wearing a bulletproof vest that belonged to his father. The reports reveal that he started attacking anyone who crossed his path.
The reports revealed that the boy has no prior history of violence. The local mayor, Silvino Lúcio, in a statement to SIC Notícias, assured that:
We have a team of psychologists providing support to the perpetrator, as well as to students, parents, and staff. The students who were attacked were from different classes and the attack was indiscriminate, as [their classmates] appeared, they were attacked
Silvino Lúcio further explained that:
The assistants noticed an abnormal situation, with shouting and hysteria, and they called him, moved him, approached him, tried to prevent any further incidents, but by the time they got there, because it was in the corridor leading to the classrooms, he had managed to claim six victims.
Response from Local Authorities and Government
The mayor denied that Azambuja Elementary School 1, 2, and 3 is a problematic institution. He said that:
It never had any major problems, it had one or two problems with bullying, but these are things that can be overcome with psychologists and the school management, it wasn’t complicated at all.
A member of the Azambuja GNR told reporters that it is premature to take any measures at this time. He said:
The young man is calm and waiting serenely, all the other children have been handed over to their parents. They have all left the school. Only people who may be of interest for investigation purposes are inside the school.
In a statement posted on the group’s website, Maria Madalena Miranda Tavares, director of the Azambuja School Group, described the incident as an isolated act.
Additionally, she confirmed that classes would proceed as usual on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro strongly condemned the attack that took place at the Azambuja Elementary School and extended wishes for the full and speedy recovery of the injured students.
He took to the social platform X (formally Twitter) and said that:
This was an isolated act and a phenomenon that is foreign to Portuguese society, but it should make all those who work in public spaces reflect with a sense of responsibility. The Government remains fully committed to protecting citizens and the institutions that underpin our country, such as schools.
