Brazil Mourns Children Gunned Down at School.

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Children cried uncontrollably at funerals here on Friday. A police helicopter dropped rose petals onto the cemetery. Even police officers and journalists were moved to tears as they watched families say goodbye to 12 children shot dead on Thursday morning in a rampage of a kind this country had never experienced. Some 4,000 people watched the burial ceremonies for 11 of the 12 children, students killed at Tasso da Silveira school in Realengo, a working-class neighborhood on the west side of this city. On the street in front of the school, teachers placed papers with the names of each victim on the wall facing the sidewalk. Throughout the day, family members, friends and neighbors passed by to drop flowers, notes and photos on the sidewalk. By early evening, candles illuminated the vigil. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]