On Tuesday, a 12-year-old carried out a shooting at a school located north of the Finnish capital, Helsinki. Tragically, one student lost their life, and two others were left with serious injuries. The young perpetrator has been apprehended by the authorities.
The Viertola school, situated in Vantaa, Finland’s fourth-largest city, serves approximately 800 pupils and employs 90 staff members. The student body consists of children from grades one to nine, spanning an age range of seven to fifteen years old.
1 Child Killed, 2 Injured After 12-Year-Old Open Fires In Finland School#Finland #SchoolShooting #FinlandSchoolShooting pic.twitter.com/UE2XwLmGVa
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“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”.
Earlier, authorities reported that both the suspect and the injured individuals were 12 years old. An investigation has been initiated, focusing on murder and attempted murder. According to a witness interviewed by the Iltalehti newspaper, the sound of gunshots reverberated 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.
Photographs captured the intense presence of police officers at the school. In a subsequent update, authorities confirmed that the suspect, who was armed, had been apprehended in Helsinki with a sense of calm.
Iltalehti released a video captured from a passing car, revealing two police officers restraining a child by the roadside in a residential neighborhood. Meanwhile, parents of the students recounted to journalists that the shooting incident unfolded within a classroom.
Around midday, authorities began allowing anxious parents who had been waiting outside the school to reunite with their children, as reported by an AFP journalist on-site. Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen acknowledged that the day had commenced in a startling and distressing manner.
“I can only imagine the pain and worry that many families are experiencing at the moment,” she posted on X.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo expressed being “deeply shocked,” and his thoughts were with the victims, their families, and the other students and staff. Finland had previously experienced two horrifying school shootings in the early 2000s.
Atragic incident unfolded In November 2007, at a secondary school in Jokela, located approximately 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Helsinki, Finland. An 18-year-old individual unleashed gunfire, resulting in the loss of lives. The victims included the headmaster, a nurse, and six students. The assailant ultimately took his own life.
In September 2008, Matti Juhani Saari, a 22-year-old individual, perpetrated a horrific act of violence at a vocational school in the western town of Kauhajoki, Finland. His actions resulted in the tragic loss of 11 lives.
In the aftermath of this devastating event, numerous schools have faced threats of violence. This sobering reality has been documented in the Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention.
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