Minor under 12 kills another minor under 12 and injures two others: shooting in Finland – report of what happened

“The day started in a horrible way”

At least one child died and two children were seriously injured in a shooting at a school in Finland this Tuesday, with a suspect later detained, Finnish police reported, cited by Reuters. According to police, everyone involved is 12 years old and the suspect was detained peacefully with the weapon in his possession.

“This is a tragic day. It is impossible to guarantee absolute security, but a day like this should never have happened. Our patrols arrived at the scene 9 minutes after they were deployed. The suspect in the crime was detained in Siltamaki, Helsinki. To As of now, there are no other suspects”, said a police source, adding that the incidents are being investigated as murder and attempted murder.

The shooting took place at the Viertola school, in Vantaa, on the outskirts of the capital Helsinki, which has around 800 students from the first to the ninth grade and, according to the police, “the suspect confessed to the act during the preliminary interrogation”, and the motivation for the crime is unknown.

According to the statement, the alert was given at 9:08 (local time). Speaking to Reuters, school director Sari Laasila said that “the immediate danger has passed”, refusing to comment further on the incident.

In X, https://twitter.com/MariPSRantanen/status/1775071767356203472stating that “the day started in a horrible way” and that he can only “imagine the pain and worry that many families are feeling right now”.

Reuter adds that previous shootings in Finnish schools have put Finnish weapons policy in serious focus. In 2007, Pekka-Eric Auvinen killed six students, the school nurse, the principal and committed suicide with a gun at Jokela secondary school, near Helsinki. A year later, in 2008, Matti Saari, another student, opened fire at a vocational school in Kauhajoki, located in northwestern Finland. The student killed nine students and one employee before committing suicide. Finland strengthened its weapons legislation in 2010, introducing an aptitude test for all those wishing to obtain a weapons license. The age limit for applicants has also been changed from 18 to 20 years. There are more than 1.5 million licensed firearms and around 430,000 license holders in a country of 5.6 million people, where hunting and target shooting are popular activities.