A 17-year-old high school student in Brazil allegedly attacked her mathematics teacher with a knife after receiving her graded exam, according to authorities.
The incident occurred Sept. 11 at Dr. Gerson dos Santos State School in Cametá, a city in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pará.
Video of the classroom confrontation shows the girl, whose identity has not been released because she is a minor, standing near teacher Betânia de Almeida’s desk in an empty room. She appears to fidget with her hair before the attack begins.
The student then pulls out a hunting knife and suddenly lunges at the teacher.
De Almeida manages to evade the blade before struggling with the student to take the weapon away. The teacher appears to be struck during the confrontation.
The video also shows the student making another attempt to stab the teacher near her face as the two grapple.
De Almeida eventually runs out of the classroom, with the student following close behind.
The 11th-grade student was arrested at the scene. According to a report from the Pará Civil Police, she told officers that she attacked de Almeida because she disliked her.
De Almeida was taken to Cametá Regional Hospital, where she received stitches before being discharged Saturday, the school said. A CT scan found that the stab wound had not damaged any of her organs.
A family member told Brazilian news outlet G1 that de Almeida had just finished grading the student’s test when the attack nearly cost her life.
It remains unclear whether the teenager is still in police custody. Cametá-based lawyer Thays Cruz told The Post that, because the suspect is a minor, she is not “criminally liable” under Brazilian law. Instead, she may face an infraction comparable to attempted homicide under the Statute of the Child and Adolescent.
“Here, we use the term ‘socio-educational measure’ for any penalty imposed on a minor who commits a crime,” Cruz said. “In her case, given the seriousness of the attempted homicide, I believe a measure involving confinement could be applied.”
The Union of Public Education Workers of Pará condemned the knife attack and called on authorities to investigate the incident.
“Violence against education is violence against all of society,” the union said, according to UNI.
The Post contacted the Pará State Department of Education and the Pará Civil Police for comment.
