12-year-old pupil shoots classmates

 

A 12-year-old opened fire Tuesday at a school outside the Finnish capital Helsinki injuring three other children of the same age, police said, adding that the attacker was in custody.

The Viertola school in Vantaa, Finland’s fourth largest city, has around 800 pupils and 90 staff. Children in grades one to nine, or aged seven to 15, attend the school.

“All those involved in the shooting incident are minors. According to police’s current information, there are three injured,” a police statement said.

Police specified that both the suspect and the injured were all 12 years old.

A witness told the Iltalehti newspaper that shots echoed across the schoolyard.

“At first I didn’t understand it was a weapon. Then a terrible scream could be heard and children ran across the yard,” the witness said.

The city of Vantaa’s crisis group was activated following the shooting. Images from the scene showed a large number of policemen at the school.

In an update, police said the suspect, who was carrying a gun, had been arrested in Helsinki in a “calm manner.”

Iltalehti published a video filmed from a passing car showing two police officers pinning down a child by the side of a road in a residential area.

Parents of pupils told journalists that the shooting had occurred in a classroom.

Police had urged the public to stay away from the area and remain indoors.

(AFP)