Finland celebrates day of mourning after student shot dead at school

Finland will lower its flags this Wednesday to mark the country’s mourning after a 12-year-old boy opened fire at a school the day before, killing a student the same age and seriously wounding two others armed with a revolver. . An event about which Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said he was “deeply shocked” before adding that his thoughts were with the victims, their parents, other students and teachers.

Several people braved the snow this Wednesday to come and leave flowers and candles in front of the school and watch the moment of contemplation, an AFP journalist noted.

“In the coming days, we must be present with children and young people, offering them words of comfort and showing them that we care about them,” the head of government said in a press release. “They may be afraid and ask questions. It’s important that we talk about the incident at home.”

“Right now we are focused on supporting” the children, emphasizes Vantaa Deputy Mayor Katri Kalske, adding that the attack will be discussed with students from all schools in the city in an “adapted” manner based on their age. » The local church will also provide support to the victims.

Students returned to school on Wednesday morning for half a day, she told AFP. A psychological listening group has been created in the city.

The suspect will not be taken into custody

The police have a first idea of ​​the motive for this act, which they do not want to reveal yet, and have already questioned the suspect, who has admitted the facts. Hours after the shooting, police confirmed at a press conference that the attack was deliberate.

The young suspect will not be jailed because he is under 15 years old and therefore cannot be prosecuted, said Markku Särkkä, who is in charge of the investigation.

On a global level, it is very unusual for such a young child to be suspected of a crime of this magnitude, Elina Pekkarinen, a children’s rights advocate in Finland, told STT.

“For years (we have been repeating) that we must take violence between children seriously in society,” she lamented. According to Ms Pekkarinen, the number of acts of violence, especially among children under 15, has been increasing for several years.

The past that comes to the surface

The Scandinavian country experienced similar tragedies in the early 2000s.

In November 2007, an 18-year-old man opened fire at a school (middle and high school) in Jokele, about fifty kilometers north of the capital Helsinki, killing eight people: the principal, a nurse and six students. After the attack, the attacker committed suicide.

A year later, in September 2008, a shooting took place at a vocational school in Kauhajoki (west) by 22-year-old Matti Juhani Saari, resulting in the deaths of ten people. Soon after, he also committed suicide.

Then in 2019, a student with a sword broke into a vocational school in the city of Kuopio, killing a 23-year-old woman and injuring nine people.