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Solved case · 1999
The short answer
On 17 December 1999, recently dismissed physics teacher Iván Arancibia Navarro shot and killed a school director, the education director of Valparaíso's Municipal Corporation, and his own three-year-old daughter at two Valparaíso high schools before a failed suicide attempt. He was later found not guilty by reason of insanity and died by suicide in 2011.
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Suggest coverage for Valparaíso school shootingsThe case file
On the morning of 17 December 1999, Iván Arancibia Navarro, a 47-year-old physics teacher who had recently been removed from teaching duties by the Municipal Corporation of Valparaíso (CMV), carried out a spree killing at two educational sites in Valparaíso, Chile. Earlier that morning he had distributed pamphlets at the Catholic University of Valparaíso describing a claimed free-energy device, behavior later cited as evidence of his deteriorating mental state.
At 11:15, Arancibia arrived at his former workplace, the B-29 Valparaíso high school, then in use as a venue for Chile's national university admissions exam. Accompanied by his three-year-old daughter, Verónica Tamara Arancibia Aguad, and carrying a pistol concealed in a wrapped box, he entered the office of school director Eliseo Francisco Nogué Gutiérrez and shot him three times, killing him. He then shot and killed his daughter. A garbage bag used to muffle the gunshots meant the killings went undetected for roughly 25 minutes.
Arancibia then walked to the nearby Eduardo de la Barra Valparaíso high school, headquarters of the CMV, where he shot and killed the CMV's education director, Luis Agustín Inocencio Alvear, with four rounds. He then confronted CMV manager Víctor Quezada but, having exhausted most of his ammunition, turned the gun on himself, firing a round into his own mouth. He survived the suicide attempt, losing vision in one eye, and was hospitalized for two months.
Arancibia was formally arrested on 20 December 1999 and prosecuted for two counts of qualified homicide and one count of parricide, carrying a potential sentence ranging from 35 years to death under Chilean law at the time. Psychiatric evaluations in 2000 initially found him unfit for trial; the case was reopened after appellate review determined he could stand trial. On 7 September 2001, Judge Jaquelinne Nash acquitted Arancibia, ruling that he suffered from delusional psychosis and was not guilty by reason of insanity. Alejandro Nogué, son of victim Eliseo Nogué, publicly criticized the ruling, saying Arancibia "should be in prison."
Following the acquittal, Arancibia was committed to the Dr. Philippe Pinel Psychiatric Hospital in Putaendo before eventually being discharged and moving to his parents' home in Viña del Mar. He died by suicide on 27 December 2011. The mother of his daughter, Heidi Aguad, later stated she had forgiven him.
The incident is described as the first and deadliest school shooting recorded in Chilean history.
8 dated entries · 1999–2011
Arancibia visits the newspaper La Estrella de Valparaíso to publicly denounce his removal from teaching duties.
Arancibia distributes pamphlets at the Catholic University of Valparaíso, then shoots and kills school director Eliseo Nogué and his own daughter Tamara Arancibia at B-29 Valparaíso high school, before walking to the Eduardo de la Barra high school and killing CMV education director Luis Inocencio Alvear; he then attempts suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot.
A shared funeral is held for the three victims.
Arancibia is formally arrested and prosecuted for two counts of qualified homicide and one count of parricide.
Psychiatric examinations initially declare Arancibia mentally unfit for trial.
The case is reopened after the Court of Appeals of Valparaíso rules Arancibia fit to stand trial.
Judge Jaquelinne Nash acquits Arancibia by reason of insanity, citing delusional psychosis.
Arancibia dies by suicide at his parents' home in Viña del Mar.
4 named in this file
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Director of B-29 Valparaíso high school since 1994; shot and killed by Iván Arancibia on 17 December 1999.[3]
Education director of the Municipal Corporation of Valparaíso since 1990; shot and killed by Iván Arancibia on 17 December 1999.[3]
Three-year-old daughter of Iván Arancibia, killed by her father on 17 December 1999.[3]
Charged with two counts of qualified homicide and one count of parricide; acquitted on 7 September 2001 by reason of insanity due to delusional psychosis. Died by suicide in 2011.[3]
3 cited
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Pressrepositorio.uchile.clAccessed Jul 7, 2026
Pressmercuriovalpo.clAccessed Jul 7, 2026
EncyclopedicWikipediaAccessed Jul 7, 2026
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