SUZANO (Brazil): Two armed men wearing face masks entered a Brazilian elementary school Wednesday and shot and killed at least six children who were on their snack breaks, as well as two school officials, before fatally turning their guns on themselves, police said.

Ten people, including the gunmen, were killed in total, Sao Paulo police said.

Policemen are seen at the Raul Brasil school after a shooting in Suzano, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, on Wednesday. Amanda Perobelli / Reuters

At least 17 other people, mostly children, were also shot at the Raul Brasil elementary school and taken to hospitals, police said in a written statement. The state of their health was not immediately known.

School shootings are rare in Brazil, even though the country is one of the world's most violent, with more annual homicides than any other. The last major school shooting was in 2011, when 12 children were shot dead by a former pupil in Rio de Janeiro.

While gun laws are extremely strict in Brazil, it is not difficult to illegally purchase a weapon.

Police said that two adolescents wearing face masks entered the building and started shooting at about 9:30am local time. The pair eventually shot and killed themselves.

Another shooting took place about 500 meters from the Raul Brasil school shortly before the killings at the school, but it was not yet clear if the two incidents were related.

About 1,000 children attend the school, police said.

Police said the two men, who they did not believe were former students at the school, entered the building and started shooting at about 9:30 a.m. local time.

Another shooting took place about 500 meters from the Raul Brasil school shortly before the killings at the school, but it was not yet clear if the two incidents were related.

Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria said as he stood outside the school that "our solidarity goes out to the families of the victims."

"I was shocked with the scenes I saw inside that school," Doria said. "It is the saddest thing I have seen in my life."

Reuters