12-year-old student opens fire at a school in Finland, killing 1 and wounding 2 others
Helsinki, Apr 2: A 12-year-old student opened fire at a secondary school in southern Finland on Tuesday morning, killing one and seriously wounded two other students, police said. The suspect was later arrested.
Heavily armed police cordoned off the lower secondary school, with some 800 students, in the city of Vantaa, just outside the capital, Helsinki, after receiving a call about a shooting incident at 09:08 a.m.
Police said both the suspect and the victims were 12 years old. The suspect was arrested in the Helsinki area later Tuesday with a handgun in his possession, police said.
Police told a news conference that one of the wounded students had died. The other two were seriously wounded, said Chief of Police Ilka Koskimaki from the Eastern Uusima Police Department.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo posted on X that he was “deeply shocked” over the shooting.
In the past decades, Finland has witnessed two major deadly school shootings.
In November 2007, a 18-year-old student armed with a semi-automatic pistol opened fire at the premises of the Jokela high school in Tuusula, southern Finland, killing nine people. He was found dead with self-inflicted wounds.
Less than a year later, in September 2008, a 22-year-old student shot and killed 10 people with a semi-automatic pistol at a vocational college in Kauhajoki, southwestern Finland, before fatally shooting himself.
In the Nordic nation of 5.6 million, there are more than 1.5 million licensed firearms and about 430,000 license holders, according to the Finnish Interior Ministry. Hunting and gun-ownership have long traditions in the sparsely-populated northern European country.
Responsibility for granting permits for ordinary firearms rests with local police departments.
Following the school shootings in 2007 and 2008, Finland tightened its gun laws by raising the minimum age for firearms ownership and giving police greater powers to make background checks on individuals applying for a gun license.
Ampumavälikohtaus Vantaalla järkyttää syvästi. Ajatukseni ovat uhrien, heidän läheistensä ja Viertolan koulun muiden oppilaiden ja henkilökunnan luona.
— Petteri Orpo (@PetteriOrpo) April 2, 2024
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Cong's Indore candidate withdrew nomination after 'threats and torture', claims Patwari; slams BJP
Shivpuri (MP) (PTI): Congress' Indore Lok Sabha candidate Akshay Bam was "threatened and tortured" following which he withdraw his nomination, the opposition party's Madhya Pradesh chief Jitu Patwari has claimed while targeting the BJP.
Bam withdrew his nomination on Monday, which was the last day for the process.
"Three days ago, IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) was added to an old case against Bam. He was threatened. He was tortured in different ways for the whole night. And today he has withdrawn his nomination," Patwari alleged at a rally here on Monday.
Bam, his father Kantilal and others are accused in a case that was registered in October 2007.
On April 5 this year, the victim filed an application in the court of the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) seeking adding of section 307 after alleging that one of the accused had fired on him.
The plea was accepted on April 24 and Bam and his father have been asked to appear in a sessions court on May 10.
"What is the message in all this? Don't people from Indore have the right to use their vote? If you believe in democracy, please stand up against this dictatorship. This is not just about Congress and BJP. Anyone who wants to vote, and keep reservations and the Constitution strong must stand up," Patwari said.
Something similar happened in Surat in Gujarat, he added.
In Surat, BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed last week after Congress nominee Nilesh Kumbhani's form was rejected over irregularities in signature of proposers.
Patwari said the BJP is praising itself but what was the mistake of the people of Surat who wanted to elect an MP with the power of their vote.
Referring to leaders of various parties, including the Congress, joining the BJP, he alleged the ruling dispensation was misusing official machinery.
"Democracy and the Constitution are under threat," he asserted.
