Young students are forced to shield in a school hallway – while being reminded to social distance – as gangs exchanged gunfire in Brazil
- A teacher at Sobral Pinto Municipal School in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil recorded the moment her students were kept in a hallway due to a shootout last Friday
- The instructor tells the children not to forget that they must socially distance while sitting on the corridor floor
- The Military Police said the gunfire was sparked by rival gangs fighting for control of the Rio de Janeiro slum, Praça Seca
This is the frightening moment school children were huddled in a hallway but instructed to social distance while gangs were involved in a shootout outside the school in Brazil.
A teacher at Sobral Pinto Municipal School in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Praça Seca recorded the video that showed at least four children sitting in the middle of the corridor last Friday.
Several staff members stood at the end of the corridor and appeared as if they were looking through a window from a distance as multiple shots rang out.
The students covered their ears and appeared to be composed as the concerned instructor kept them calm during the tense moments.
A boy (left) covers his ears while he and his classmates were moved to a hallway at Sobral Pinto Municipal School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while shots were being fired by rival gangs outside last Friday. A teacher filmed the incident and instructed the students to remember to keep their distance because of the coronavirus pandemic
Children and staff at the Sobral Pinto Municipal School in Rio de Janeiro were captured on video seeking refuge in a school corridor while rival gangs were involved in a shootout last Friday
‘What is happening is very dangerous. Come here. Please. You are not supposed to be together because of the coronavirus,’ the teacher warned after one of the boys moved from where he had been sitting.
‘Unfortunately, we have to stay in these conditions. Sitting in the school corridor having to keep distance and at the same time having to protect themselves from the constant shots every afternoon here in Rua Barão.’
A child who was near the teacher then asked her, ‘aunt, how are we going to know where the shots are?’
‘We don’t know, the shots are everywhere,’ she said.
The video was posted Monday on social media by local activist Rene Silva and drew over 2 million views.
‘Can you understand the complexity of living in a slum?’ Silva wrote in a tweet.
‘Children in the corridor to protect themselves from gunshots. The teacher worried about distancing because of Covid … That’s it, the reality of social inequality!!!’
Children at Sobral Pinto Municipal School in the Rio de Janeiro favela or slum of Praça Seca remain seated on a corridor floor while they were shielded by their teachers from gunfire outside the facility
Rio de Janeiro’s secretary of education, Renan Ferreirinha, slammed the state’s policy in combating crime.
‘In addition to the great educational challenges, we have the chronic problem of violence in Rio,’ Ferreirinha tweeted.
‘There is no point in insisting on an inefficient public security policy, of confrontation by confrontation, which harms the poorest and is not integrated with other areas, especially education.’
The Rio de Janeiro Military Police attributed the shooting to rival criminal groups fighting for control of the Praça Seca, favela or slum.
‘The 18th BPM command clarifies that it has not received a complaint from a school that has been closed or threatened by gunfire in the past week,’ the Military Police said in a statement.
‘On Friday it was reported that there were shots (exchanged) between rival groups at the top of the hill, without reflections in the lower part of the community. Overt policing continues to be strengthened in the region.’
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