Saber Attack at Finnish School Leaves One Dead, 10 Injured
Finnish Attack Leaves One Dead, 10 Injured as Suspect Caught
(Bloomberg) -- A woman was killed and 10 others injured in a saber attack at a vocational school in Finland.
Law enforcement officers opened fire on the attacker, who wounded one officer, the police said at a press briefing on Tuesday. The perpetrator and one of his victims were both seriously wounded.
A man slit a woman’s throat before stabbing her in the stomach, according to regional newspaper Keskisuomalainen, which cited eye-witness accounts.
Police described the attacker as a Finnish male, born in 1994, and said he was carrying a gun as well as a saber. He is listed as a student at the school at which the attack took place, police said. The victims included students and staff.
A small fire was put out at the scene, and the police said they found firebombs in a raid of the suspect’s home in a local dormitory. According to preliminary information, the assailant didn’t have a criminal record and didn’t practice shooting as a hobby, the police said.
Finland has a history of school attacks and police frequently respond to threats. In 2007 and 2008, mass shootings resulted in tighter gun laws. But attackers have also resorted to other weapons. In 2017, a young Moroccan man stabbed two people to death in what was subsequently categorized as a terrorist incident in Turku, on the southwest coast.
Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation will take over the case.
--With assistance from Hanna Hoikkala.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kati Pohjanpalo in Helsinki at kpohjanpalo@bloomberg.net;Leo Laikola in Helsinki at llaikola@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net
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