Finland school shooting: 12-year-old opens fire, killing student, wounding 2
Global News
One student died and two others were seriously injured when a 12-year-old opened fire at the Viertola school outside Helsinki.
A 12-year-old student is in custody after opening fire at a school in Finland.
One student died in the shooting and two others were seriously injured, Finnish police wrote in a statement. All of the victims were also 12 years old.
The shooting occurred at the Viertola school in Vantaa, a city just outside the capital of Helsinki. About 800 students are enrolled at the elementary school, which offers classes from Grade 1 to Grade 9.
Police were called to the school at 9:08 a.m. following reports of shots fired. By the time police arrived, the suspect had already fled.
At around 10 a.m., police caught the child a short distance away from the school in Siltamäki, a neighbourhood in the northern part of Helsinki.
Police state that the student was still in possession of a firearm but was arrested “peacefully.”
The 12-year-old confessed to the shooting in a preliminary interview with police.
During a press conference, Chief of Police Ilkka Koskimäki said that the firearm used in the shooting was a gun registered to the suspect’s relative, the Associated Press reports.
