Sixth-grader killed in Finnish school shooting, police say, child suspect held

One child was killed and two seriously wounded in a shooting at a school outside the Finnish capital on Tuesday, police said, with a 12-year-old fellow pupil suspected of the attack taken into custody.

Police said the boy was arrested without further violence in the Helsinki suburb of Siltamaki, 4 km south of the Viertola school in Vantaa district.

Education Minister Anna-Maja Henriksson broke into tears while speaking to reporters hours after the attack in a country where gun violence among youths is rare.

"One 12-year-old child will never return home from school again," she said.

The interior ministry said Wednesday will be a national day of mourning, and government buildings will fly the flag at half-mast.

There were no other suspects, police said. They provided no details of the suspect's identity or victims, apart from saying they were all 12-year-old Finns and pupils at the school and the suspect was a boy.

There were no other suspects, police said. They provided no details on the suspect's identity or victims, apart from saying they were all 12-year-old Finns and pupils at the school and the suspect was a boy.

The two survivors were being treated for serious injuries, the Helsinki regional hospital district said in a statement without providing details.

Parents had to wait three hours before they could collect their children, with lots of hugs when reunited outside the police barricade. Some were crying. Children had to leave their coats behind.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the shooting was deeply shocking. He encouraged parents to comfort their children and help alleviate any fears about further such attacks.

"I want to tell children and young people all over Finland that the Finnish authorities and school staff are doing everything they can every day to prevent something like this from happening," Orpo said in a statement.

The suspect had admitted the attack in a preliminary interview, police said, and the offenses would be investigated as murder and attempted murder.

No one has yet spoken on the suspect's behalf. He will be put in the care of social services because a child cannot be remanded in custody, police said.

Police said the motive was not clear. They said the handgun's permit belonged to a relative of the suspect.

Video circulating on social media and unverified by Reuters showed two police kneeling at the side of the suspected shooter, who was lying face down on a sidewalk.

According to the municipality, the Viertola school has around 800 pupils from first to ninth grade and a staff of 90.

Anja Hietamies, the mother of an 11-year-old pupil, told Reuters she received a message from her daughter after the shooting.

"She said they were in a dark, locked classroom, not allowed to speak on the phone but could send messages," Hietamies said, adding her daughter was scared.

Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said on X: "The day started horrifyingly...I can only imagine the pain and worry that many families are experiencing at the moment. The suspected perpetrator has been caught."

Previous school shootings in Finland have put a focus on Finland's gun policy.

In 2007, Pekka-Eric Auvinen shot and killed six students, the school nurse, the principal, and himself using a handgun at Jokela High School near Helsinki.

A year later, in 2008, Matti Saari, another student, opened fire at a vocational school in Kauhajoki in northwest Finland. He killed nine students and one male staff member before turning the gun on himself.

Finland tightened its gun legislation in 2010, introducing an aptitude test for all firearms licence applicants and raising the minimum age from 18 to 20.

Rantanen told a press conference that it was too early to draw any policy conclusions from Tuesday's attack.

There are more than 1.5 million licensed firearms and about 430,000 license holders in the nation of 5.6 million people, where hunting and target shooting are popular.

Bullying was motive for school shooting - police

Finnish police said on Wednesday the motive for a school shooting on the outskirts of Helsinki on Tuesday, in which one 12-year-old died, was bullying.

"The suspect has said during interrogations that he was the target of bullying, and this information has also been confirmed in the preliminary investigation by the police," police said in a statement.

Previous shooting in the country

Previous school shootings in Finland have put a harsh focus on Finland's gun policy.

In 2007, Pekka-Eric Auvinen shot and killed six students, the school nurse, the principal, and himself using a handgun at Jokela High School near Helsinki.

A year later, in 2008, Matti Saari, another student, opened fire at a vocational school in Kauhajoki, located in northwest Finland. He killed nine students and one male staff member before turning the gun on himself.

Finland tightened its gun legislation in 2010, introducing an aptitude test for all firearms license applicants and raising the age limit to 20 from 18.

There are more than 1.5 million licensed firearms and about 430,000 license holders in the nation of 5.6 million people, where hunting and target shooting are popular activities.