Bullying was the motive for a 12-year-old gunman in Finland to attack classmates at a school near Helsinki. The suspect himself told investigators. The preliminary investigation also confirmed that he was the victim of bullying, Finnish police said in a statement cited by Reuters.
Helsinki
15:55 April 3, 2024
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A 12-year-old Finn shot a classmate because of bullying, investigators found Photo: Jussi Nukari | Source: Reuters
In Tuesday’s shooting, one pupil died, who was also twelve years old, and two other pupils were seriously injured. Flags across Finland flew at half-mast on Wednesday.
The suspected student confessed to the crime to investigators and remains in the care of social services, as the Finnish police cannot take into custody a child who is not criminally responsible. No one has yet spoken publicly on his behalf, reports Retuers.
“The shooting in the city of Vantaa is very shocking. My thoughts are with the victims, their families and the other students and staff at Viertola,” he wrote on social media the X network Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.
Both the assailant, the victim and both injured were of Finnish nationality, although one of the injured girls had dual citizenship – Finnish and Kosovar. Police urged the public not to spread rumors about the incident on social media.
“There is a lot of different, partly inaccurate information about what happened. “Police continue to emphasize that spreading certain false information on social media is a crime,” investigators said, according to Reuters.
Finland the day after the attack on the elementary school: the police did not disclose the motive of the student. His gender is not even certain
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The shooter used a firearm for the attack, for which his close relative had a valid permit. The student transferred to Viertola school, where the incident happened, at the beginning of this year. The facility is attended by about 800 pupils in nine classes and has approximately 90 staff members.
Previous school shootings have led to a discussion in Finland about the need to tighten gun laws. These debates were sparked primarily by the act of eighteen-year-old student Pekka-Erik Auvine, who in November 2007 shot eight people and then himself at the Jokela high school in Tuusula, southern Finland.
A year later, in 2008, another student, 22-year-old Matti Saari, shot and killed ten people at Kauhajoki High School. The gun laws were tightened in 2010.
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