A MACHETE-WIELDING teenage attacker who killed three babies and two female teachers in a bloodbath at a daycare centre was bullied in school and allegedly 'harmed animals' say cops.
Suspect Fabiano Kipper Mai, 18, butchered his victims after storming the Aquarela centre in Saudades, Brazil, yesterday, police told G1.
Terrified staff hid in a room with other children as the attacker slaughtered the babies and two fellow workers.
Keli Adriane Aniecevski, 30, and Mirla Renner, 20, and three one-year-old children were killed during the horrifying rampage, it's reported.
The babies were named as Sarah Luiza Mahle Sehn, Murilo Massing and Anna Bela Fernandes de Barros.
After killing the toddlers and women, the suspect wounded himself and was found on the floor.
He was arrested then taken to a hospital in Pinhalzinho, just outside of Saudades.
Cops have now revealed the suspect was a loner who was bullied at school and allegedly took his frustrations out by torturing neighbourhood animals.
Santa Catarina Police superintendent Jerónimo Marçal Ferreira said: "He was a problematic young man, who, according to what people close to him told me, suffered from bullying and had been abusing some animals."
"He liked online games, some violence, and because of bullying he didn't want to go to school anymore," Supt Ferreira told .
"In the coming days we will draw a profile of the suspect who caused this barbarity, but with the information given by his relatives we more or less have a profile," he added, admitting it will be "difficult" to identify the "reasons" and "choice" of the crime scene.
MACHETE HORROR
Ms Aniecevski, who had worked at Aquarela for 10 years, was declared dead at the scene.
Authorities found two packages of knives at the suspect's home following the carnage.
Municipal education secretary Gisela Hermann described a "scene of terror" when she arrived at the day care centre.
Hermann said: "There was a guy lying on the floor, but still alive, a dead teacher, a dead child, too.
"The room was closed, they wouldn't let us in."
Aline Biazebetti, who worked at the centre, rushed to help after hearing people calling out.
Other workers at the centre locked children in a changing room to shield them from the attacker.
Ms Biazebetti said: "He tried to open it, but in the end he [aggressor] ended up giving up.
There was a guy lying on the floor, but still alive, a dead teacher, a dead child, too
Aline Biazebetti, day-care centre worker
"They started to close the windows to try to protect themselves."
She took an injured one-year-old boy to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery with horrifying stab injures.
He was placed in intensive care unit with knife wounds to the face, abdomen and a punctured lung.
She said: "He was badly injured. It is very sad.We never expected that, ever, for someone to come in and do something like that.
'DEVASTATING'
"There is no explanation for what this guy did."
Santa Catarina Governor Carlos Moisés offered his condolences to victims' families after the "devastating news".
He tweeted: "My solidarity with families, the school community and all residents of this welcoming city.'
Classes in the municipality of Saudades were cancelled for the rest of the week, mayor Maciel Schneider announced.
Schneider said: "It is a very sad moment in our small town.
"We put all of our teams on to support this, decree official mourning, cancel all classes this week.
"We put our health teams (at disposal), psychologists are accompanying families."
Tributes including white roses and photos have been left at the daycare centre, as handwritten notes shared emotional words describing the victims as 'heroes' and 'angels'.
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Chapecoense football club, located in Chapecó, 60 km from Saudades, reacted on Twitter: "We are stunned by this tragedy, we lack words to communicate the magnitude of our pain in the face of such atrocity."
In 2016, Chapecoense suffered a major tragedy when a plane crashed that left 71 dead, including 19 players, 14 staff members and about 20 journalists.