By Essi Lehto and Sergejs Mikusa
HELSINKI (Reuters) -A 12-year-old boy who shot and killed a sixth-grade classmate and seriously injured two others at a school in Finland said he had been the target of bullying and that this was the reason for his attack, according to police. said Wednesday.
The boy took a relative’s gun to the Viertola school near Helsinki on Tuesday and shot the three 12-year-olds and threatened several others. He transferred to the school in early 2024, investigators said.
Finland marked a day of national mourning on Wednesday, with flags flown at half-mast on public buildings as a mark of respect for the dead child. The other two pupils remained in hospital, with life-threatening injuries, according to police.
“We only found out today that this bullying was behind the tragedy,” Chief Inspector Marko Sarkka, lead investigator, told Reuters. He declined to elaborate.
Police did not say whether the attacker tried to target specific individuals.
Finland has seen an increase in the level of bullying in schools, with 8.6% of pupils now aged around 12 saying they have been targeted at least once a week, compared to 7.2% in 2019, according to a 2023 study conducted by the public health institute THL.
The permit for the gun used in Tuesday’s attack belonged to a relative of the suspect, police said. It was not immediately clear how the shooter obtained the weapon.
“The matter is being investigated by police as a separate firearms offence,” detectives said in a statement.
CANDLES AND FLOWERS
Mourners lit hundreds of candles and laid flowers outside the school in the town of Vantaa on Wednesday.
The mother of a fifth-grader said parents and teachers should talk more with children to identify any cases of bullying as early as possible.
“I want more resources to deal with these incidents,” the mother, Valentina Goncharenko, told Reuters.
After fatal school shootings in 2007 and 2008, Finland tightened gun legislation in 2010 and introduced an aptitude test for all firearms license applicants. The minimum age for applicants has also been increased from 18 to 20.
There are more than 1.5 million licensed firearms and about 430,000 license holders in a country of 5.6 million people, where hunting and target shooting are popular.
There were no immediate calls in Finland after Tuesday’s incident for a change in gun laws.
“As far as I understand, you don’t get a permit easily for these kinds of guns and they should be locked up,” said Tuomo Matero, a musician walking in central Helsinki.
“No 12-year-old should have access. If the legislation is followed correctly… this sort of thing shouldn’t happen. We should make sure there are enough teachers in schools and that children feel safe and that there is no bullying in schools,” he said. added.