Shock as schoolboy, 12, kills classmate in gun rampage
Two children seriously wounded as youngsters dived for cover
A BOY of 12 fatally shot one classmate and injured two other youngsters at a secondary school in Finland yesterday.
A suspect was pinned to the floor and arrested by police in the city of Vantaa, where officers were seen kneeling on the boy, with a handgun discarded at his side.
Classmates had frantically dived for cover as the boy opened fire, and terrified children called their parents from inside the building as the horror unfolded.
Shooting
Police later confirmed three youngsters – all aged 12 – had been injured in the shooting but one tragically died from their injuries at a nearby hospital.
Officers responded to the Viertola school at around 9am local time.
Alarmed residents living nearby were ordered to remain indoors.
The suspect was later detained, but Finnish broadcaster MTV Uutiset reported that officers caught him a 50-minute walk from the school.
One witness described seeing the “small” and “hooded” boy drop something to the floor before kneeling down as police arrived to arrest him.
Officers said the youth was found still in possession of a firearm.
However, he is unlikely to face criminal prosecution as the minimum age of criminal liability in Finland is 15.
The identities of the child who died and the two who were injured had not been revealed last night. Local news outlets quoted parents at the school as saying that the shooting took place inside a classroom.
Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on social media that the shooting had “deeply shocked” him.
He added: “My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones and the other students and staff ofViertola school.
“We are following the situation closely and are waiting for updated information from the authorities.”
Interior minister Mari Rantanen posted on X, formerly Twitter: “The day started in a horrifying way. There has been a shooting incident at theViertola school inVantaa.
“I can only imagine the pain and worry that many families are experiencing at the moment. The suspected perpetrator has been caught.”
Images from the school showed armed police at the scene, with ambulances parked in the playground.
The school has 800 students and 90 members of staff.
The schoolchildren had just returned to classes in Vantaa, north of the capital city Helsinki, after the long Easter weekend.
The school has students aged seven to 15 of both primary and middle-school age on two separate sites. As the news emerged of the shooting, parents gathered at the Jokiranta site where the shooting occurred.
Vantaa is Finland’s fourth biggest city with some 240,000 residents.
Finland is known as a country of hunters and gun enthusiasts and has 430,000 licensed gun owners in a population of 5.5million.
Laws
But gun laws were tightened following two school shootings within a matter of months in 2007 and 2008.
In 2007, an 18-year-old student shot dead seven pupils and his head teacher in the town of Tuusula. The following year another student shot dead nine pupils and a teacher in the town of Kauhajoki.