Shooting in Finland: 12-year-old child injures three at school in Vantaa

Police in Vantaa, a suburb of Helsinki, the capital of Finland, reported this Tuesday morning (2) that a shooting left three children injured at a school. The minor involved in the crime was arrested.

“All the people involved in the shooting are minors. According to information from the police, three people were injured”, states a note from the security force, which arrived at the educational establishment at 9:08 am (3:08 am Brasília time).

According to the information, the children and the suspect are 12 years old. They were kept in the classrooms and several parents went to the school, where they were attended to by the police, according to the public television network Yle.

The Vantaa school has almost 800 students, divided into two centers, aged between 7 and 15. A crisis office was created, with education professionals and city hall employees, according to the Finnish press.

Police said the suspect fled after the shooting and was detained “calmly” near the scene, in the northern district of Helsinki. They also added that he was armed.

Previous cases

Vantaa is the fourth largest city in Finland, with around 240,000 inhabitants. Finland saw two deadly school shootings within a matter of months in 2007 and 2008, which led to the tightening of gun laws.

But it is widely known as a country of hunters and gun enthusiasts and has 430,000 licensed gun owners among a population of 5.5 million, according to government statistics. In 2007, an 18-year-old student shot dead seven students and their teacher in the town of Tuusula, and the following year, another student shot dead nine students and a teacher in the town of Kauhajoki.

Government Position

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo described the shooting as deeply disturbing and said his thoughts were with the victims and their families, as well as everyone at the school.