One student killed, two injured by 12-year-old Finnish school shooter
A 12-year-old opened fire yesterday at a school north of the Finnish capital Helsinki, killing a classmate and seriously injuring two other children, with police saying they were still investigating the motive and lead-up to the incident.
The Viertola school in Vantaa, Finland’s fourth-largest city, has around 90 staff and 800 pupils in grades one to nine, or aged seven to 15.
“Today, after 9:00 am, a shooting incident took place at a school... in which a sixth grader, a student of the school, died,” Ilkka Koskimaki, chief of the Eastern Uusimaa police department, told a press conference, adding that two others were “seriously injured”.
Police had earlier said that both the suspect and the injured were 12 years old. They have opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder.
In an afternoon update, police said they had been able to conduct an interview with the young suspect.
“The police are investigating, among other things, the motive for the act and the reasons for the incident,” Detective Chief Inspector Marko Sarkka, who is leading the investigation, said in a statement, adding more information would be shared today.
Police also said a technical investigation of the crime scene had begun at the school, which would continue today.
The child who was killed died at the scene, and the suspect had already fled the school by the time police arrived.
The suspect, who was carrying a gun, was arrested in a “calm manner” around 10 am and had admitted being the shooter in a preliminary interrogation. There were no other suspects, police said.
They said the weapon the suspect was carrying belonged to a relative.
Owing to the suspect’s young age, police said the child would
not be held in custody, but would be turned over to social services after being interviewed.
Ayan Hanif, a student at the school, told AFP that he and his classmates had just gone outside for a physical excercise class when teachers told them to hurry back inside and sit on the floor.
“I think I heard one or two gunshots but I’m not sure,” the 13-year-old said.
Another witness told Finland’s Iltalehti newspaper that shots had echoed across the schoolyard.
“At first I didn’t understand it was a weapon. Then a terrible scream could be heard and children ran across the yard,” the witness said.
A large number of police officers, some carrying body armour and rifles had gathered outside the school.
Parents of the students told journalists the shooting took place in a classroom, but police did not specify any details about the shootings during a press conference. (AFP)