Finland school shooting: 12-year-old suspect claims ‘bullying’ as motive

Tributes of candles, flowers and other memorabilia placed at the Viertola school in Vantaa, Finland. Photo / AP

A 12-year-old student suspected of fatally shooting a classmate and wounding two others in Finland told police he was bullied at school, officials said, as a nation shocked by the attack held a day of mourning.

The suspect, a sixth grader at the school in the city of Vantaa near Helsinki, was apprehended less than an hour after the shooting on Tuesday morning.

Finland's national flag flies at half mast outside Government Palace in Helsinki as the nation paid tribute to the shooting victims. Photo / AP

The shooter and the victims were all classmates, police said.

“The motive for the act has been found to be bullying,” the Eastern Uusimaa Police Department, which is in charge of the investigation, said.

“The suspect has said during interrogations that he was the target of bullying, and this information has also been confirmed in the preliminary investigation by the police. The suspect had transferred to Viertola school at the beginning of this year.”

The minimum age of criminal liability in Finland is 15, which means the suspect cannot be formally arrested. A suspect younger than 15 can only be questioned by the police before they are handed over to child welfare authorities.

A 12-year-old student opened fire at a secondary school in southern Finland on Tuesday morning, killing one and seriously wounding two other students. Photo / AP

On Wednesday, Finnish blue-and-white flags were flown at half mast and scores of people including parents, teachers and fellow students placed flowers and lit candles in the snowy landscape near the school building where the shooting occurred.

Police said one of the wounded girls had dual Finland-Kosovo citizenship.

The deceased boy died instantly after being shot, police said. The suspect was detained in the Helsinki area less than an hour after the shooting with a “a revolver-like handgun” in his possession. The gun was licensed to a relative of the suspect who was not immediately identified. Police said he admitted the shooting in an initial police hearing.

Police said the shooter and the victims were all classmates. Photo / AP

Finland has witnessed two major deadly school shootings in 2007 and 2008. The country has since tightened its gun laws, raising the minimum age for firearms ownership and giving police greater powers to perform background checks on individuals applying for a gun licence.

The nation of 5.6 million has more than 1.5 million licensed firearms, and about 430,000 licence holders, according to the Finnish Interior Ministry. Hunting and gun ownership are deeply rooted traditions in this sparsely populated northern European country, where target practice is also a widespread hobby.