Police say Finnish student, 12, opens fire at school, killing 1
HELSINKI — A 12-year-old student opened fire at a secondary school in southern Finland on Tuesday morning, killing one and seriously wounding two other students, police said. The suspect was later apprehended.
Heavily armed police cordoned off the Viertola school — a large educational institution including lower and upper secondary schools with a total of about 800 students — in the city of Vantaa, just outside the capital, Helsinki, after receiving a call about a shooting incident at 9:08 a.m.
Police said both the suspect and the victims were 12 years old.
One of the students died instantly after being shot, Chief of Police Ilkka Koskimäki from the Eastern Uusimaa Police Department told a news conference.
The weapon used in the shooting was a registered handgun that was licensed to the suspect’s relative, Detective Inspector Kimmo Hyvärinen said.
The suspect was detained in the Helsinki area less than one hour after the shooting with a handgun in his possession, police said. He admitted to the shooting in an initial police hearing but there is no immediate word of the motive, police said, adding that the case is being investigated as a murder and two attempted murders.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo offered condolences to the families of the victims in postings on X with both saying they were shocked over the shooting.
“What makes it particularly shocking is the age of the victim and the suspect,” Orpo said during a news conference later Tuesday.
The minimum age of criminal liability in Finland is 15 years, which means the suspect cannot be formally arrested. A suspect younger than 15 can only be heard by the police after which they will be handed over to Finland’s child welfare authorities.
In the past decades, Finland has witnessed two major deadly school shootings.
In November 2007, a 18-yearold student armed with a semiautomatic pistol opened fire at a high school in southern Finland, killing nine people. He was found dead with self-inflicted wounds.
In September 2008, a 22year-old student shot and killed 10 people with a semi-automatic pistol at a vocational college before fatally shooting himself.