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.
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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.
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.
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