Police said on Wednesday, the 3rd of April, that the 12-year-old boy who shot dead a schoolmate and seriously injured two other sixth-formers at a Finnish school on Tuesday claimed he was the victim of bullying and that this was the motive for his attack, reports the British broadcaster BBC.
On Wednesday, Finland held a national day of mourning and flags were lowered at half-mast to pay tribute to the victim.
The other two pupils are still in hospital and police said their injuries are life-threatening.
A police statement said that the boy was transferred earlier this year to the Viertola school in Vantaa where the shooting took place and that the bullying was at the root of the tragedy. The police added that preliminary investigations confirmed this.
Police also revealed that the suspect had threatened pupils on their way to school.
According to Finnish TV channel MTV Uutiset, he was wearing a mask and noise-cancelling headphones at the time of the shooting at the Viertola school.
Police have also confirmed that the weapon used by the suspect belonged to a close relative. It was not immediately clear how the shooter obtained the weapon.
In Finland, many people own guns and persons over 18 years of age who are considered fit to possess a firearm can apply for a licence. Children over 15 can also obtain permits to use other people’s firearms.
The suspect is known to have been in possession of a revolver-type pistol, which under Finnish law is only issued to persons over 20 years of age.
Elina Pekkarinen, the Finnish Ombudsman for Children, stressed the importance of taking child abuse seriously, pointing out that the problem is an urgent one in Finland and needs to be addressed. She pointed out that the number of cases of violence,
especially among children under the age of 15, has increased in recent years.
Reuters reports that 8.6% of schoolchildren aged around 12 now say they have been bullied at least once a week, up from 7.2% in 2019, according to a study by the public health institute THL 2023.
Also read: Finland school shooting: 12-year-old suspect detained, one of the victims died
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