Finland is in shock after a gun attack on a primary school. According to investigators, the twelve-year-old alleged perpetrator has now given the reason for the attack. Accordingly, he was bullied by classmates.
According to initial investigations, bullying was the motive for the gun attack in a school in Finland. The suspected shooter, a 12-year-old boy, stated when questioned “that he was the victim of bullying and this information was also confirmed by the preliminary investigation,” the police said.
According to this, the suspect had moved to the sixth grade at the beginning of this year at the school that the three victims also attended.
No criminal proceedings against him suspects
On Tuesday morning, shots were fired at the Viertola school in Vantaa, north of the capital Helsinki. Shortly afterwards, police arrested the sixth-grader with a gun near the school grounds. One child died from his injuries at the scene, and two girls are in hospital with life-threatening injuries.
According to the police, the boy confessed to the crime in an initial interview. The weapon used belonged to a close relative of the boy. Police also said the boy also threatened other students after he fled the school following the attack.
The officers opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder. Since the accused is younger than 15 years, he cannot be prosecuted criminally and will not be imprisoned. He will be taken into care by social services, the police announced.
Flags of the country at half-mast
The violent act caused horror and sadness in Finland. The country’s flags were flown at half-mast today as part of a national day of mourning. Many people laid flowers and lit candles in the snow in front of the school.
Lessons took place half the day in the Viertola school, as Vantaa’s deputy mayor Katri Kalske told the AFP news agency. The city administration therefore set up a psychological counseling center. The attack will also be discussed with students at all of the city’s schools in an “age-appropriate” manner, Kalske said. The church also offered pastoral support to those affected.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also announced support. “In the coming days we must be there for the children and young people, give them words of comfort and show them that we care for them,” he said. It is normal for children to be afraid and want to “ask questions”. “It is important that we talk about this incident at home,” warned Orpo.
Series of school shootings
There have been two major school shootings in Finnish schools in recent decades. In November 2007, an 18-year-old student at a secondary school in Tuusula, in the south of the country, opened fire on his classmates, killing nine of them. The perpetrator also died from self-inflicted injuries. Less than a year later, in September 2008, a 22-year-old shot ten people and then himself at a vocational school in Kauhajoki in the southwest.
Arne Bartram, ARD Stockholm, tagesschau, April 3, 2024 4:36 p.m