A young boy fatally shot a 12-year-old student and wounded two others at a school in Finland on Tuesday, police said, a rare act of violence by a child in a country that has changed its gun laws after previous school shootings but where gun ownership remains widespread.
Police said they arrested a suspect, also 12 years old, who had a gun about an hour after arriving at the Viertola school in the town of Vantaa, about 16 kilometers north of Helsinki. As is usual in criminal investigations in Finland, police have not released the name of the suspect.
“We as a society have learned from the previous sad school shootings,” National Police Chief Seppo Kolehmainen said at a press conference – but he added: “We have failed to do the deed in this sad event.” prevent.”
“We’ll find out why later,” he said.
Finland tightened gun laws after two school shootings in 2007 and 2008 that left 20 people dead, including the perpetrators. Those shootings sparked a heated debate over gun laws in a country of hunters and gun enthusiasts.
A law introduced in 2011 raised the age limit for acquiring handguns to 20, made it mandatory for applicants to take an aptitude test and added a requirement that doctors report anyone they deemed unfit to to own a gun.
Yet Finland still has one of the highest firearm ownership rates in Europe, according to the 2018 Small Arms Survey conducted by the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.
Under Finnish law, firearms permits can only be granted to people who can demonstrate “an acceptable purpose of use” and who are considered suitable based on their health and behavior.
It’s unclear how the student obtained the gun in Tuesday’s shooting, but police said the gun was licensed to a close relative of the suspect.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told the news conference that, especially given the young age of the attacker and the victims, “the shooting incident at the Viertola school is deeply shocking and leaves you speechless.”