On Tuesday, a 12-year-old opened fire at a school outside the Finnish capital Helsinki, injuring three other children of the same age.
News About Nigeria gathered that the police have taken the attacker into custody following the shooting at Viertola School in Vantaa, Finland’s fourth-largest city.
The Viertola school, which accommodates around 800 pupils and 90 staff, caters to children aged seven to 15 in grades one to nine.
“All those involved in the shooting incident are minors. According to the police’s current information, there are three injured,” a police statement confirmed, noting that both the suspect and the injured were 12 years old.
Eyewitnesses recounted harrowing scenes as shots rang out across the schoolyard.
“At first, I didn’t understand it was a weapon. Then a terrible scream could be heard and children ran across the yard,” one witness told the Iltalehti newspaper.
In response to the shooting, the city of Vantaa activated its crisis group, and images from the scene showed a large police presence at the school premises.
Providing an update, police revealed that the suspect, who was armed, had been apprehended in Helsinki in a ‘calm manner’.
Video footage published by Iltalehti showed police officers subduing a child in a residential area.
According to reports from parents, the shooting occurred in a classroom, prompting police to urge the public to stay away from the area and remain indoors while investigations were underway.
Interior Minister Mari Rantanen expressed shock and solidarity with affected families, while Prime Minister Petteri Orpo conveyed deep shock, extending sympathies to the victims, their relatives, and the school community.
Finland has a grim history of school shootings, with two notable incidents occurring in the early 2000s.
In November 2007, an 18-year-old gunman killed eight people at a secondary school in Jokela, while a year later, in September 2008, 11 lives were claimed in a shooting at a vocational school in Kauhajoki.
Since then, numerous schools have faced shooting threats, largely attributed to mental health issues, according to a study published in the Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention.
