BRAZIL – After Mass on Tuesday, a gunman opened fire at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Campinas. Four people were pronounced dead on the scene, while four more were injured.
When police responded to the situation, a firefight ensued. After taking a bullet to the ribs, the gunman shot himself before authorities could reach him.
Authorities later identified the gunman as Euler Fernando Grandolpho, a forty-nine year old man from Valinhos. Grandolpho wasn’t a member of the cathedral. Investigators have not announced the motive behind the shooting. Before the shooting on Tuesday, Grandolpho had no criminal record.
In a recent update, police investigator Jose Henrique Ventura told reporters that the four people who Grandolpho injured were in stable condition.
“I saw people get shot, I can’t get it out of my head,” Danielle Coutinho told EPTV. She was in the back of the church visiting after Mass when the gunshots first ripped through the cathedral. “It was horrible,” she continued.
Grandolpho entered the church at the end of Mass and sat in one of the pews towards the back of the church. “It was frightful,” Alexandre Moraes told GloboNews. “He shot randomly at people. They were all praying.”
Even though shootings are not a rare occurrence in Brazil, the country does not often witness mass shootings.
Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s newest president, vowed to tackle corruption and crime during his campaign this fall.