School shooting in Finland kills one, injures two as child opens fire
A child has been killed and another two wounded after another minor opened fire at a primary school in Finland, according to authorities.
Finnish police said the 12-year-old shooter was arrested early on Tuesday, shortly after the incident at the Viertola school in Vantaa, a suburb of Helsinki. Like the United States, Finland has high rates of gun ownership, but incidents of gun violence and school shootings in the country are rare.
“The immediate danger is over,” the school principal Sari Laasila told Reuters, declining to comment further.
The two injured victims, who are the same age as the attacker, were taken to a hospital, according to police. Their identity and condition were not immediately clear.
Parents were later seen picking up their children from another school building hundreds of metres away, as police sealed off another building.
The school in Vantaa has about 800 students from first to ninth grade and a staff of 90, according to the municipal government.
Police told reporters that all of those involved in the incident were Finnish. A motive was not yet clear, they added.
“The day started in a horrifying way … I can only imagine the pain and worry that many families are experiencing at the moment. The suspected perpetrator has been caught,” Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen wrote in a statement posted on X,
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the shooting was deeply shocking.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones and the other students and staff,” he said on X. “We are following the situation closely and are waiting for updated information from the authorities.”
