One child was killed and two others seriously injured after a school shooting on Tuesday, the 2nd of April, near the Finnish capital, while a 12-year-old schoolmate suspected of the attack was detained, police said. The victims were immediately taken to hospital, according to a police spokesman, reports Reuters.
The arrest took place peacefully outside the school in Helsinki and the suspect and the weapon are currently in police custody. Police said there were no other suspects so far.
No further details were given on the identity of the suspect or the victims, only that they are all 12-year-old Finns and school pupils.
The police said that the suspect had admitted to the attack in an initial interview. The suspect will be transferred to the care of social services and is too young to be arrested.
Police stated that the motive was unclear, indicating that the firearm licence belonged to a relative of the suspect.
The shooting took place at the Viertola school in the Helsinki suburb of Vantaa, which has about 800 pupils in grades one to nine and 90 employees, according to the municipality.
“The immediate danger has been averted,” Sari Laasila, principal of the Viertola school, told Reuters, declining to comment further.
Interior Minister Mari Rantanen wrote on X: “The day started in a horrible way… I can only imagine the pain and worry that many families are feeling right now. The suspected perpetrator has been caught.”
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the shooting was deeply shocking. “My thoughts are with the victims, their families and the rest of the students and staff,” he wrote on X.
Previous school shootings in Finland have increased scrutiny of the country’s gun policy.
In 2007, six pupils, a school nurse and the school principal were killed in a school shooting, with the shooter later shooting himself. The following year, in 2008, another student, Matti Saari, opened fire at a vocational school in Kauhajoki, north-west Finland, killing nine pupils and one member of staff before killing himself.
In 2010, Finland tightened its gun laws, requiring all applicants for a gun licence to pass a proficiency test and raising the age limit from 18 to 20. In a country of 5.6 million people, where hunting and target shooting are popular, there are more than 1.5 million licensed firearms and around 430 000 licence holders.
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