HELSINKI: 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.
The arrest of the boy was made without further violence in the Helsinki suburb of Siltamaki, 4-km south of the Viertola school in Vantaa district, police said.
Education Minister Anna-Maja Henriksson broke into tears when speaking to reporters hours after the attack in a country where gun violence among youths is rare.
“One 12-year-old child will never again return home from school,” she said. The suspect and the three victims were all sixth-graders, the police said in a statement.
“The injuries of both victims who were taken to the hospital are very serious,” said Criminal Commissioner Marko Sarkka.
A national day of mourning will be observed on Wednesday, with government buildings flying the flag at half-mast, the interior ministry said.
There were no other suspects, police said. They provided no details on the identity of the suspect or victims, apart from saying they were all 12-year-old Finns and pupils at the school and the suspect was a boy.
