BRAZIL/USA: Brazil expresses solidarity with victims of one of the United States' worst mass shootings in history, lining Copacabana Beach with crosses to represent those killed

Record ID: 323759

  • Title: BRAZIL/USA: Brazil expresses solidarity with victims of one of the United States' worst mass shootings in history, lining Copacabana Beach with crosses to represent those killed
  • Date: 15th December 2012
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (DECEMBER 15, 2012) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF THE CHRIST THE REDEEMER STATUE, IN RIO DE JANEIRO GENERAL VIEW OF COPACABANA BEACH CROSSES PUT UP IN THE SAND OF COPACABANA BEACH, IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF YESTERDAY'S MASS SHOOTING IN THE US ROSES FOR THE VICTIMS OF SCHOOL SHOOTING IN THE U.S. MESSAGE OF SUPPORT TO THE VICTIMS OF SCHOOL SHOOTING IN TH
  • Embargoed: 30th December 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Brazil
  • City:
  • Country: Usa Brazil
  • Topics: Crime,People
  • Reuters ID: LVAEOR85L3DUWAV8IS1KVK6XKWD0
  • Story Text: Brazil joined the rest of the world on Saturday (December 15) in expressing support for the victims of a school shooting in the United States that left 20 children and six adults dead.
    The Brazilian human rights advocacy group, Rio of Peace, placed 26 crosses in the sand on famed Copacabana Beach in memory of the victims of Friday's shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
    Images of distraught parents making their way to Sandy Hook Elementary School following the shooting reverberated worldwide. In Brazil, all major news bulletins led with the tragic news.
    For Antonio Carlos Costa, Rio of Peace's founder, the latest American tragedy involving guns is another reminder that authorities need to implement stricter gun control laws.
    "We want to express our solidarity and love (to the American people) and to call on authorities in both countries to act. In Brazil, in the last decade, half a million people have been murdered. In both countries (Brazil and US) there are too many firearms available to the population and that's part of the problem," he said.
    The attacker, identified by law enforcement sources as Adam Lanza, opened fire on Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, which teaches children aged 5 to 10. The shooter killed 26 people before turning the gun on himself, and was suspected of killing another person before the massacre.
    Irani Menezes, stopped to reflect on the tragedy on her way to her morning walk, and said she was very saddened by what happened.
    "It angers us and makes us sad. It's like a shadow is hanging over us," she said.
    On Saturday, U.S. investigators said they had assembled "some very good evidence" to explain what drove the 20-year-old gunman to slaughter the children and adults at the school.
    Friday's mass shooting is considered one of the worst in U.S. history and has shattered the small Connecticut town, listed in 2011 by the website NeighborhoodScout.com as the fifth-safest city in America.
    The tragedy moved President Barack Obama to tears on national television on Friday and rattled a country that has grown accustomed to mass shootings, but not with victims so young. It also stood to revive a debate about U.S. gun laws.
    The holiday season tragedy was the second shooting rampage in the United States this week and the latest in a series of mass killings this year.
    It revived a debate about gun-control in a country with a flourishing firearms culture and a strong lobby that has discouraged most politicians from any major efforts to address the easy availability of guns and ammunition.
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