Two explosions near the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF, for its Portuguese initials) in the capital Brasilia on Wednesday left one person dead. The first blast took place in the trunk of a car at a parking lot about 7.30 p.m. local time, while the second happened at the nearby Three Powers Square a few minutes later after a man tried unsuccessfully to enter the STF building. 

Brazil Federal District Vice Governor Celina Leão laid out this sequence of events at a press conference later on Wednesday night. She stated that the person who died was the same person who had tried to enter the Supreme Court before the second explosion. Leão added that authorities are treating the incident as the work of a lone bomber, although investigations are still pending.

Images taken a few hours after the two blasts showed that the body of the attacker still remained at the square, which is also close to Congress and the presidential palace. The vice governor confirmed that investigators had not removed the remains because it had an unidentified device attached to it. Military police evacuated and closed off the surrounding areas, including the parking lot, the square, and the Supreme Court itself.

The STF issued a communiqué saying that all ministers and court personnel were evacuated safely from the building after the explosions went off. The statement went on to say that all court operations had been suspended until a full sweep of the premises in search of explosive devices could be finalized.   

Although Leão said that the attacker’s identity was yet to be established, CNN Brazil said that the Federal District press office had identified him to them as Francisco Wanderley Luiz. Multiple media reports stated that a man with the same name had run for city council in 2020 in the town of Rio do Sul, Santa Catarina. Luiz ran as a candidate for the Liberal Party, which is led by former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. 

Brazilian Attorney General Jorge Messias said that the Federal Police will act “swiftly and vigorously” in order to investigate the explosions. “We need to know the motives behind the attacks in order to reestablish peace and safety as quickly as possible,” he wrote in a post on X.