The 12-year-old child suspected of having killed a classmate in a school in Finland on Tuesday and seriously injured two others, justified his action by the
"
harassment
"
of which he was
a "victim"
, the police said on Wednesday.
“The suspect told the police during interrogations that he had been the victim of harassment, which was confirmed by the preliminary investigation
,” the police said in a statement, adding that the young person had been transferred to this school located north of Helsinki at the start of the year.
Equipped with a revolver-type weapon belonging to one of his relatives, he opened fire Tuesday morning in his school in Vantaa, north of the Finnish capital, killing a boy in his class of the same age as him and seriously injuring two other girls - one a Finnish citizen and the other with dual Finnish and Kosovar nationality. As he fled, he also threatened, again with his firearm, students who were going to another school, police added on Wednesday.
The suspect will not be incarcerated due to his young age, but will be handed over to social services, said the same source. On Wednesday, Finland observed a day of mourning, with public buildings and institutions lowering their flags to half-mast, in tribute to the victims. In front of the school, several people braved the snow to come and leave flowers, candles and stuffed animals and observe a moment of contemplation, according to an AFP journalist on site.