Maracanã school shooting

On the afternoon of November 28, 2025, a school shooting occurred at the Celso Suckow da Fonseca Federal Center for Technological Education (Cefet) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At around 3:50 p.m. local time, João Antônio Miranda Tello Ramos Gonçalves, 47, a former employee of the institution, entered the school armed with a Glock .380 pistol. He broke into an administration office and shot an administrative technician twice, then moved to a second room and shot a psychologist twice, before entering a third room where he shot himself in the head.

During the attack, students and staff barricaded themselves inside classrooms to prevent the shooter from entering. One teacher reportedly continued teaching as normal while the attack unfolded elsewhere in the building. Once the shooter had killed himself, those in hiding emerged. Police and firefighters who arrived at the scene found the two wounded victims and transported them to the hospital; the shooter was found dead.

The two victims were Allane de Souza Pedrotti Matos, 41, an administrative technician who was shot in the back of the head and shoulder and died before reaching the hospital, and Layse Costa Pinheiro, 40, a psychologist at the institution who was shot in the head and chest and died approximately two hours after the attack. Gonçalves died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

He had a documented history of mental health issues and, according to colleagues, had previously threatened to kill colleagues and then take his own life. Upon returning to the institution after medical leave, he was transferred between departments, which reportedly led to confrontations; he was described by colleagues as uncomfortable serving under female superiors and as someone who did not accept dissenting opinions. He had filed a lawsuit against the federal government (the Union) alleging moral harassment; three days before the attack, a court closed the case without ruling on its merits, citing the institution's administrative autonomy. He was reported to be separated with no children.

In the aftermath, the school announced five days of mourning and remained closed until December 5, 2025. Several Brazilian politicians publicly offered condolences following the attack. Two days after the shooting, the two victims were buried in separate cemeteries in Rio de Janeiro; details of the shooter's burial were not disclosed.

This was noted as the second school shooting involving multiple deaths in Rio de Janeiro, following a 2011 attack at a municipal school in which twelve people were killed before the perpetrator killed himself.