School stabbing in Chile leaves 1 dead and 4 injured

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SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A stabbing at a school in northern Chile killed at least one person and injured four others on Friday, police said.

The attack occurred at about 10:40 a.m. local time at the Instituto Obispo Silva Lezaeta, located in the city of Calama, in the northern Antofagasta region.

A 12th grade student attacked three students and two members of school staff, Chile’s national police force, the Carabineros, said in a statement.

Police also said that “upon the arrival of officers, the individual was subdued and detained.”

The school was evacuated and classes were canceled.

The attack resulted in the death of a 59-year-old school supervisor. No information on the conditions of the four injured was immediately available.

The attacker’s identity and age wasn't immediately released, but Antofagasta governor Ricardo Díaz said that the assailant was a student. Díaz also said the student was carrying accelerant liquids, leading investigators to work on the hypothesis that the attack was premeditated.

Díaz described the situation as “extremely serious” and said no details on the attacker’s motives was available.

“This is an event that has a profound impact and affects the soul of the people of Calama, as nothing of this magnitude had ever occurred here before,” he said in an interview with local channel 24 Horas.

Armed attacks in Chile are unusual, though the country has a long history of school violence and is known for student protests that frequently turn violent. In late 2024, more than 30 pupils were injured in an explosion caused by the manufacturing of incendiary devices intended for use at a student demonstration in Santiago.

In May, three students were shot inside a school in the Bío Bío region, in what authorities described as the first shooting to occur inside a school in Chile.