A child was killed and two others were seriously injured in a shooting at a school on the outskirts of the Finnish capital on Tuesday, police said, with a 12-year-old schoolmate suspected in the attack being taken into custody.
At the school, a building had been cordoned off by police. Parents were picking up their children from another school building, hundreds of meters away.
There were no other suspects at this time, said police, who did not provide details about the identity of the suspect or victims, other than to say they were all 12-year-old Finns and students at the school.
The suspect admitted to the attack in a preliminary interrogation, police said. The suspect will be placed in the care of social services and is too young to remain in custody.
A video circulating on social media and not verified by Reuters showed two police officers kneeling next to the suspected shooter, who was lying face down on a sidewalk.
The attack took place at the Viertola school in Vantaa, a suburb of Helsinki, which has around 800 students from first to ninth grades and a staff of 90 employees, according to the city hall.
Anja Hietamies, mother of an 11-year-old student, told Reuters she received a message from her daughter after the shooting.
“She said they were in a dark, locked classroom, not allowed to talk on the phone, but could send messages,” Hietamies said.
Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said on
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the shooting was deeply shocking.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones and the other students and staff,” he said on X.
Previous school shootings in Finland have put a harsh spotlight on the country’s gun policy.
In 2007, Pekka-Eric Auvinen shot and killed six students, the school nurse, the principal and himself using a firearm at Jokela High School near Helsinki.
A year later, in 2008, Matti Saari, another student, opened fire at a vocational school in Kauhajoki, located in northwestern Finland. He killed nine students and one staff member before shooting himself.
Finland strengthened its weapons legislation in 2010, introducing an aptitude test for all applicants for firearms licenses. The age limit for candidates has also been changed from 18 to 20 years.
There are more than 1.5 million licensed firearms and about 430,000 license holders in the country of 5.6 million people, where hunting and target shooting are popular.
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Tags: Shooting attack school Finland leaves dead injured #12yearold suspect arrested
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