Finland is still in shock from the shooting which occurred Tuesday morning at a school in Vantaa, north of the capital Helsinki. But the investigation is progressing. We learned this Thursday that the 12-year-old boy who shot and killed a student in his class and seriously injured two girls probably prepared his act, according to the police.
“The preliminary investigation has uncovered facts suggesting that the act was planned,” said the police official leading the investigation, Marko Sarkka, quoted in a statement. “The searches carried out on the seized devices which were in the possession of the suspect, a telephone and a computer, revealed elements which confirm this hypothesis,” he added.
The revolver of one of the boy’s relatives
The police indicated on Wednesday that the perpetrator of the shooting, who had joined the Viertola school at the start of the year, had justified his action by the harassment of which he was a victim. The killed child, a 12-year-old Finn, died at the scene although the suspect had already left the school when the police arrived, shortly after 9 a.m.
The revolver-type weapon used by the boy belonged to one of his relatives, according to the police, who specify that this aspect of the case is the subject of a separate investigation for “firearms offense”. The suspect cannot be held criminally responsible, because he is under 15 years old, and is in the care of social services.
The two injured soon questioned
The preliminary investigation is “advancing at a rapid pace” but will not be completed for “months”, according to the police. Investigators continue their technical investigations at the scene of the act and interview students, parents, witnesses and school staff.
The two seriously injured girls are still hospitalized but investigators hope to be able to question one of them “in the coming days”.