School Shooting In Finland – Three children, all 12 years old, were shot at a school located outside of the Finnish capital on Tuesday. Tragically, one of the victims later succumbed to their injuries. The police have taken a 12-year-old fellow student into custody as the suspected attacker.
According to a police spokesperson, the victims were immediately transported to the hospital. At the school, the police had cordoned off a building as part of their investigation. Meanwhile, parents were collecting their children from another school building several hundred meters away. The arrest of the suspect took place peacefully in the suburb of Siltamaki, away from the school premises. Both the suspect and the weapon used in the attack are now in police custody. Currently, there are no other suspects under investigation.
A video circulating on social media, which has not been verified by Reuters, showed two police officers kneeling beside the suspected shooter, who was lying face down on a sidewalk. At this time, no information regarding the identities of the children or the condition of the two surviving victims has been released.
The incident occurred at Viertola school in Vantaa, a suburb of Helsinki. The school has approximately 800 students ranging from first to ninth grade, along with a staff of 90, according to the municipality. Anja Hietamies, the mother of an 11-year-old student, received a message from her daughter after the shooting. Hietamies shared that her daughter informed her they were in a dark, locked classroom and were not allowed to speak on the phone but could send messages. Understandably, her daughter was frightened.
Interior Minister Mari Rantanen expressed her dismay, stating, “The day started in a horrifying way… I can only imagine the pain and worry that many families are experiencing at the moment. The suspected perpetrator has been apprehended.” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also expressed his shock at the incident, saying, “The shooting was deeply shocking. My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and the other students and staff.”
Previous school shootings in Finland have brought attention to the country’s gun policy. In 2007, Pekka-Eric Auvinen used a handgun to fatally shoot six students, the school nurse, the principal, and himself at Jokela High School near Helsinki. A year later, another tragic incident occurred.
