Two other children seriously injured in incident in Helsinki suburb described by minister as ‘horrifying’

A 12-year-old child has died and two others have been seriously wounded in a school shooting in Finland.

The suspect, a fellow pupil, ran off after the shooting but was later arrested, police said. He was holding a licensed handgun owned by a close relative and admitted carrying out the shooting in an initial interview, they added.

The shooting took place on Tuesday morning at the Viertola school in Vantaa, a suburb of the capital, Helsinki. The school has about 800 pupils from first to ninth grade and a staff of 90 people, according to the local municipality.

Finland tightened its gun legislation in 2010, introducing an aptitude test for all firearms licence applicants. The age limit for applicants was changed to 20 from 18.

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

  • @whereisk@lemmy.world
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    228 months ago

    If Wikipedia is accurate the previous school shooting in Finland was 12 years ago - it doesn’t seem like an epidemic.

    Meanwhile in the US, there are between 1-4 school shootings per month that result in injuries or deaths. I don’t think I’ve heard the 2 or 3 for March on the news.

  • @sujpr@lemmy.ca
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    208 months ago

    Looking back at my school days, it doesn’t surprise me things like this happen.

    Kids are cruel, and a lot of them think they’re immune to the consequences of their actions.

    Unfortunately, this mindset carries over into adulthood more often than not.

    Treat people right, guys.

    • @WraithGear@lemmy.world
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      78 months ago

      I mean they kinda are. The school only has leverage on students that care. So leading up to a confrontation the school really can’t do anything against an antagonizer. when there Is a confrontation, only the student that cared in the first place is going to be punished meaningfully. Well it’s either that or the teachers are just as cruel as the bullies.

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    28 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    He was holding a licensed handgun owned by a close relative and admitted carrying out the shooting in an initial interview, they added.

    The shooting took place on Tuesday morning at the Viertola school in Vantaa, a suburb of the capital, Helsinki.

    Police said they were made aware of the shooting shortly after 9am local time, after which they warned bystanders to stay indoors and away from the area and not to open their doors to strangers.

    The Finnish broadcaster Yle reported that parents at the school said the suspected shooter was a sixth-grade student there.

    Previous school shootings in Finland have put a harsh focus on the country’s gun policy.

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


    The original article contains 435 words, the summary contains 138 words. Saved 68%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • @Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
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    -58 months ago

    Schools will have to eventually send bullies and trouble makers away. Education for the behaved, something else for the rest. Guns are never going away.