A 12-year-old child has died and two others have been seriously wounded in a school shooting in Finland, leaving the country reeling.
The suspect, a fellow pupil, ran off after the shooting but was later apprehended, police said. He was holding a licensed handgun owned by a close relative and admitted carrying out the shooting in an initial interview, they added.
The shooting took place on Tuesday morning at the Viertola school in Vantaa, a city north of the capital, Helsinki. The school has about 800 pupils from first to ninth grade and a staff of 90 people, according to the local municipality.
Police said the suspect and the victims were 12 years old and Finnish.
The shooting in what was described as a usually calm neighbourhood has left the nation and its leaders in shock.
“Together, we thought that as a society we would have learned from previous school shootings. Such a day should not have happened,” the national police chief, Seppo Kolehmainen, said at a press conference in Vantaa.
The Finnish prime minister, Petteri Orpo, said the age of the victims and the suspect made the tragedy “especially shocking”.
He added: “I would like to show my own and the government’s sympathy to the family and loved ones of the child who passed away. In addition, two children have been seriously injured. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, students and staff of Viertola school. It is important that they receive all possible support.”
Orpo said the “grim story” behind the shooting would be investigated and reviewed and “the necessary changes will be made”.
Trying to reassure Finnish children, he said: “Today and in the coming days we need presence, care and comforting arms, words of comfort. And it is really important that this is talked about more widely in homes. I want to tell Finnish children and young schoolchildren that the Finnish authorities and school staff do everything every day to prevent something like this from happening.”
Alexander Stubb, the Finnish president, said: “I am shocked by the events in Vantaa. I offer my deepest condolences to the family of the deceased pupil. I wish strength for recovery to the injured. All the students and staff of the school are in my thoughts.”
The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, also offered his condolences.
Anxious parents and guardians waited outside the school – some for hours – for information about their children. Schoolchildren were seen being led away by adults.
Pupils were offered support by psychologists and nurses. The interior ministry ordered state agencies and institutions to lower flags on Wednesday to honour the victims.
The Finnish interior minister, Mari Rantanen, said: “The day started in a horrifying way. There has been a shooting incident at the Viertola school in Vantaa. I can only imagine the pain and worry that many families are experiencing at the moment. The suspected perpetrator has been caught.”
Previous school shootings in Finland have put a strong focus on the country’s gun policy. In 2007, Pekka-Eric Auvinen shot and killed six students, a school nurse, the principal, and himself using a handgun at Jokela high school near Helsinki.
In 2008, another student, Matti Saari, opened fire at a vocational school in Kauhajoki, in north-west Finland. He killed nine students and one staff member before turning the gun on himself.
Finland tightened its gun legislation in 2010, introducing an aptitude test for all firearms licence applicants. The age limit for applicants was changed to 20 from 18.
But in February, the country announced plans to open more than 300 new shooting ranges to encourage more citizens to take up the hobby in the interest of national defence.
There are more than 1.5m licensed firearms and about 430,000 licence holders in the nation of 5.6 million people, where hunting and target shooting are popular activities.
Police said they were made aware of the shooting shortly after 9am local time, after which they warned bystanders to stay indoors and away from the area and not to open their doors to strangers.
Katri Kalske, a deputy city manager for education and training in Vantaa, said she was deeply shocked and there had been no advance warning, telling the Finnish broadcaster Yle: “This came as a big surprise to everyone.”
She said she hoped the shooting would act as a wake-up call to society.