(MENAFN) Finnish authorities have disclosed that bullying served as the primary motive driving a 12-year-old boy to carry out a deadly shooting at his school near Helsinki. The tragic incident, which claimed the life of one classmate and left two others injured, marks the country's first school shooting in over a decade.
The shooting unfolded on Tuesday morning at a lower secondary school in Vantaa, a city situated just north of Helsinki. The young suspect, also 12 years old, was apprehended following the attack, during which he fatally shot a male classmate and wounded two others. According to Finland's national police force, bullying emerged as the confirmed motivation behind the assailant's actions.
In a statement issued the day after the shooting, the police revealed that the suspect had confessed to being a target of bullying, a claim corroborated by preliminary investigations. The tragic incident sheds light on the profound impact of bullying within educational settings, raising concerns about the well-being and safety of students across Finland.
The suspect, who reportedly transferred to the school just last year, was found outside the premises on Tuesday brandishing a revolver. Reports indicate that following the shooting, he allegedly used the weapon to threaten other students en route to a different school, further exacerbating the sense of fear and uncertainty gripping the community.
Tuesday's tragedy underscores Finland's historically low incidence of school shootings, with only four such incidents recorded in the country's history. The deadliest of these occurred in 2008, when a college student unleashed a rampage at a technical university in Kauhajoki, claiming the lives of nine students and a teacher before taking his own life. Similarly, in 2007, a high school student in Jokela fatally shot six pupils, a school nurse, and his principal before turning the gun on himself.
As Finland grapples with the aftermath of yet another devastating school shooting, authorities and communities alike are left to confront the complex issues surrounding bullying and its implications for youth mental health and safety within educational environments.
MENAFN04042024000045015687ID1108058331
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.