'He is a brother and an icon': Sinister letters and photos left by Rio gunman reveal he modelled himself on Virginia Tech shooter

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:29 PM on 18th April 2011

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• Wellington de Oliveira aped Cho Seung-Hui with guns in outstretched arms
  
• Brazil school assassin 'angry and delusional' just like man who massacred 32 in 2007

The Brazilian gunman who shot dead 12 pupils in the Rio de Janeiro school massacre was inspired by the Virginia Tech shooter, whom he saw as 'a brother' and an 'icon', rambling letters reveal.

In one particularly sinister photo, Wellington de Oliveira poses with his handgun-wielding arms outstretched, just as Cho Seung-Hui did before he murdered 32 people in a 2007 killing spree.

It was among a series of disturbing messages from beyond the grave, in which videos, photos and written documents pay tribute to Cho, hailing his bravery, calling him 'an icon in the struggle against the unfaithful'.

Ramblings: In the documents Oliveira cites the Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho as 'a brother' along with a Brazilian teenager who shot and wounded six students in the school where he'd studied

Sinister: Oliveira's photos and letters are strikingly similar to those left by Cho Seung-Hui before he murdered 32 people at Virginia Tech University in 2007

Oliveira, 23, killed himself after the shocking and inexplicable bloodshed at Tasso de Silveira elementary school last weekend, the magnitude of which shocked the nation.

The letters, strikingly similar to those left by Cho, reveal an angry, delusional character, motivated by the bullying and humiliation he suffered as a student and continued to suffer into adulthood.

In the videos and letters, Oliveira mentions God, quotes the Bible extensively, and discusses the quotations in long, rambling passages.

He cites Cho as 'a brother' along with a Brazilian teenager who in 2003 shot and wounded six students in the school where he'd studied, then killed himself.

Oliveira thanks the two for their 'bravery', and for leading the way, using language similar to that used by Cho in videos he'd made before dying, which are widely available on the Internet.

Crazed: Wellington Oliveira points a gun to his head posing for the camera at an unknown location right before he gunned down ten girls and two boys aged from 12 to 15 inside the Tasso da Silveira public school

Target practice: Oliveira left behind videos, photos and written documents which reveal an angry, delusional character who blamed school officials and bullies for the deaths

Iconic pose: Oliveira recreates the famous John Wayne pose with a gun tucked into his pants

Like Cho, Oliveira refers repeatedly to others who were bullied as brothers. Like Cho, he says he was once weak and now is strong and will seek revenge for himself and others who, like him, were persecuted.

They both blamed school officials and bullies for the attacks.

'I hope this serves as a lesson, especially to those school officials who stood by with their arms crossed as students were being attacked, humiliated, ridiculed,' Oliveira says in one video.

Fleeing in fear: Pupils are seen on security cameras running from the classroom in Tasso da Silveira school after the gunman opened fire

Terrified: The pupils can be seen fleeing from the carnage. Twelve of their classmates were killed before the gunman turned the weapon on himself

Bloodied: One of the pupils exits the classroom with a bullet wound in his shoulder after the attack in the Realengo neighbourhood of Rio

Gunman: The security camera image shows Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, 24, walking inside a corridor of the Tasso da Silveira school with a gun in his hand

'I want to be very clear that I am not responsible for the deaths that will occur, even though my fingers will be on the trigger... Each time you see someone making fun of someone else for their physical appearance, the clothing or any reason... remember that type of person is responsible for all these deaths, including my own.'

Photos released show the murderer posing in various stances with guns, similar to the ones of Cho which are readily available on the internet.

In one, Oliveira stands with a gun in each hand, arms outstretched to the side, in another, he stares at the camera, with a gun pointed at the viewer.

Last request: He holds up the letter he left behind which explained how he wants to be buried and that no one who is 'impure' is allowed to touch him without gloves

The families whose children Oliveira killed are still grappling with their loss and the school have as yet to resume classes.

On Friday, the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, said the city would compensate the families of the dead.

In spite of the mayor's promise, the mother of one of the children who died said she plans to sue the school.

Noeli da Silva Rocha, 38, lost her daughter, Mariana Rocha, in the attack.

Worst nightmare: Anxious parents and relatives of pupils wait outside school desperate for news of their loved-ones

KILLER'S DERANGED FINAL WORDS

The following are excerpts from the letter Wellington de Oliveira left at the school:

'You should first know that the impure cannot touch me without gloves, only the chaste or those who lost their chastity after marriage and were not involved in adultery can touch me without gloves, or, in other words, no fornicator or adulterer can have direct contact with me.

'Those who prepare my burial should take off all my clothes, wash me, dry me and wrap me totally naked in a white sheet that is in this building, in a bag that I left in the first room on the first floor, after they have wrapped me in this sheet they can put me in my coffin.

'If possible, I want to be buried next to the grave where my mom sleeps. I need to be visited at my grave by a faithful follower of God at least once, he must pray in front of my grave and ask God's forgiveness for what I did praying that upon his return Jesus wakes me from the sleep of death for eternal life.'

'I left a house in Sepetiba which no family needs, there are poor institutions, financed by generous people, that take care of abandoned animals, I want this space where I passed my final months donated to one of these institutions.'

She said: 'How can they let the criminal who did this walk in and kill a whole bunch of children? Whose mistake was this? Wasn't it the school's? They'll have to pay.'

Twenty other students were injured during the attack.

CCTV images from the attack show students fleeing in terror from the Tasso de Oliveira elementary school in the Realengo suburb of Rio de Janeiro.

In one CCTV image, the former pupil can be seen holding his gun outside the classroom where he launched his bloody spree before turning the weapon on himself.

The gunman roamed the halls of the school for children aged 10 to 15, lining his victims against a wall and shooting them in the head at point blank range as he shouted 'I'm going to kill you all!'

He had told school officials who approached him that he was there to deliver a speech, and then opened fire on students with two pistols.

Two boys, one with a gunshot wound, fled the school and ran to two police officers on patrol two blocks away.

Jade Ramos, a student at the school, said the gunman repeatedly yelled 'I'm going to kill you all!'

'He had already killed a lot of children in the first floor and in the yard,' she said.

'He kept telling the kids to face the wall and was shooting at their heads. The children kept begging, 'No, please!' There was a lot of blood, children agonising on the stairs.'

Ready for action: Armed police arrive at the school after the alarm was raised

Ramos said she escaped by running into a classroom, where a teacher then locked the door and barricaded it with tables.

Oliveira left a rambling and mostly incoherent letter at the scene indicating he wanted to kill himself.

The letter also explained in detail how Oliveira wanted his corpse to be cared for - bathed and wrapped in a white sheet that he left in a bag in the first room where he said he would start shooting. The letter also states that the gunman should not be touched by anyone who is 'impure' unless they wear gloves.

'If possible I want to be buried next to my mother. A follower of God must visit my grave at least once. He must pray before my grave and ask God to forgive me for what I have done,' read the letter, portions of which were posted on the Globo television network's website.

Edmar Peixoto, the deputy mayor of western Rio, said the letter also stated the gunman had AIDS.

Carnage: Firefighters carry the body of the suspect from the building after he opened fire with a handgun

Distraught: Parents scream for information after the shooting this morning

Motive? The gunman, believed to be a former pupil at the school, left a note stating he wanted to kill himself

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