12-year-old student stabs classmates at school in Portugal

A 12-year-old boy stabbed six classmates with a knife on Tuesday (17) at a school in the Portuguese village of Azambuja, in the district of Lisbon.

Colonel Fernando Lisboa of the National Republican Guard (GNR) of Azambuja explained in statements to journalists at the school gate that the victims are children between 11 and 14 years old and that five of them had minor injuries, while the last one requires greater care.

A girl with chest injuries was taken to a hospital in Lisbon, although her life is not in danger, the mayor of Azambuja, Silvino Lúcio, told EFE.

Lúcio reported that the student went home to eat and returned to school with a knife and a bulletproof vest in his backpack and began attacking some classmates. “Nothing indicated this type of behavior,” commented the mayor.

The name of the attacker has not been released. According to information from the newspaper Observador, the 12-year-old boy is a seventh-grade student and the son of a teacher who works at another school in the same district.

The reasons for the attack are unknown at this time, the GNR highlighted, adding that the perpetrator of the attack was restrained and would give a statement to the Judicial Police, which will be in charge of the investigation. The other students left the school and were handed over to their parents.

According to CNN Portugal, Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro spoke about the attack on X.

“I condemn in the strongest terms the attack that occurred at the Basic School in Azambuja and I wish the injured students a full and speedy recovery,” wrote Montenegro.

“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,” added the Prime Minister.