Child who shot classmates at school in Finland alleged “harassment”

The 12-year-old boy suspected of having killed a classmate on Tuesday and seriously injured two others at a school in Finland justified his actions by saying that he had been a victim of harassment, the Finnish police said today.

“The suspect said during interrogation that he had been a victim of harassment, which was confirmed by the preliminary investigation,” the police said in a statement, adding that the young man had been transferred to the school at the beginning of the year.

The educational establishment where the shooting occurred is a primary school, attended daily by around 800 students and where 90 people work.

Vantaa’s deputy director of education and training, Katri Kalske, reported that a crisis office has already been convened and explained that any update on the incident is the responsibility of the police, according to the Finnish channel Yle.

The incident led Finland to observe a day of mourning today.

At around 08:00 local time (06:00 in Lisbon), all public buildings and institutions lowered their flags to half-mast in honor of the victims, according to the Finnish Ministry of the Interior’s portal, which encouraged the entire country to join oneself into mourning.

A 12-year-old boy, armed with a revolver, opened fire on Tuesday morning at his school in Vantaa, north of the capital Helsinki, killing a boy of the same age in his class and seriously injuring two other girls – one of Finnish and another of dual Finnish-Kosovar nationality – before being detained, according to police.

According to the Finnish channel MTV uutiset, the attacker was wearing a mask and noise-cancelling headphones when he committed the act.

The attack was premeditated, police said at a press conference a few hours after the shooting at the school, which has 800 students aged seven to 15 across two locations.

The students returned to school this morning, the vice-president of Vantaa City Council, Katri Kalske, told AFP. The city created a counseling unit.

“We are now focusing on supporting” children, he stressed, adding that the attack will be discussed with students in all schools in the city in an “age-appropriate” way.

The local church will also provide support to those affected.