Candles, flowers, mourners and members of the media outside the Viertola school in Vantaa, Southern Finland, on 2 April 2024. Eastern Uusimaa Police Department communicated last week that its officers have wrapped up their pre-trial investigation into a shooting at the school that left one pupil dead and two seriously injured. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)
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INVESTIGATORS at Eastern Uusimaa Police Department have completed their pre-trial investigation into the deadly school shooting that took place in Viertola, Vantaa, on 2 April.
“In the course of the pre-trial investigation, we found no evidence that the […] victims had subjected the suspect to bullying or discrimination,” Marko Särkkä, the detective chief inspector in charge of the pre-trial investigation at Eastern Uusimaa Police Department, said last Thursday.
The suspect discharged his firearm at three of his classmates in a classroom at around 9am, killing one and seriously wounding two. Särkkä told that the events transpired over a period of around 90 seconds, with the then 12-year-old suspect firing four shots in the classroom, before leaving the classroom and school premises at the orders of the teacher.
The suspect said he also discharged the firearm several times outside the school, but the investigators were unable to verify the number of shots.
Police also revealed that the suspect had compiled a list of targets with the names of 15 of his fellow pupils, whom he called bullies and discriminators, and stated that he had intended to harm more people and that he had brought 14 cartridges to the school.
“According to his account, he did not see the people named on his list in the classroom,” said Särkkä.
Some of the pupils were shocked to find their names on the list, he added to Helsingin Sanomat.
“Some of them were completely surprised. They hadn’t known that the suspect felt like he was experiencing bullying and discrimination. Some have naturally been shocked,” he commented to the daily newspaper.
The two girls who sustained injuries in the incident have been released from hospital – the second not until earlier this autumn, though. Särkkä said the victim is continuing to receive hospital care at home and remains in a bad condition, according to the testimony of her family.
Device searches conducted as part of the pre-trial investigation found that the suspect had looked up information on previous school shootings, including by watching animations, news broadcasts and serial documentaries.
On the morning of the shooting, he had taken a photo of himself with the firearm.
Eastern Uusimaa Police Department on Thursday reminded that the case will not be submitted to a prosecutor for consideration of charges due to the young age of the suspect. A prosecutor is, however, mulling over bringing charges in a case linked to how the suspect gained access to the firearm, which was owned by a close relative.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
