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The 12-year-old boy who opened fireplace at his faculty in Finland on Tuesday, killing a classmate and wounding two others, has provided an evidence for the taking pictures: He was bullied.
Police mentioned the motive emerged throughout an interview with the scholar, who had transferred to his faculty north of Helsinki in the beginning of the calendar 12 months. Police mentioned that after the firing the boy additionally threatened college students going to a different faculty.
Police mentioned the boy couldn’t be charged criminally on account of his age and was positioned within the custody of social welfare officers.
“This incident is extraordinarily disturbing,” Finland's Training Minister Anna-Maja Henriksson mentioned in an interview on Wednesday. “We now have to do extra in society to cease bullying.”
A number of public officers mentioned it was too early to know what led to the taking pictures, which resulted within the dying of a 12-year-old boy and the wounding of two women of the identical age. However many joined the decision for extra concerted efforts to handle psychological well being issues amongst younger individuals and deal with faculty bullying.
Within the Finnish information media, one editorial known as for a “tighter grip on the illness amongst youngsters and youth” and others demanded better assurances from authorities about faculty security. The Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat revealed tips for reporting bullying, as “the duty all the time lies with the adults.”
A 2023 authorities survey confirmed that just about eight p.c of youth in Finland reported being bullied, a rise from the earlier 12 months.
“We now have performed a number of issues to enhance issues,” mentioned Katri Kalske, deputy mayor for schooling within the metropolis of Vantaa, citing the introduction of classes about youngsters's feelings and different initiatives.
“Sadly,” she added, “they didn't.”
Tightening gun possession legal guidelines has been virtually absent from the controversy in Finland, which has the very best charges of firearm possession in Europe.
There are roughly one gun for each three individuals in Finland, in accordance with the 2018 Small Arms Survey, however the fee of firearm-related deaths is a small fraction of that in america, in accordance with the World Inhabitants Assessment.
Consultants say this discrepancy is because of Finland's strict guidelines relating to who can get hold of weapons, and the contrasting cultures of the 2 international locations.
They are saying Finland's widespread gun possession has extra to do with its deeply rooted looking tradition and its sporting habits, but in addition the sensation that it’s a elementary proper for the aim of self-protection.
Permits for firearms can solely be granted to individuals who can show an “acceptable goal of use” and are deemed appropriate based mostly on their well being and behavior. Many pistol and revolver homeowners should additionally show that they continued to follow looking or taking pictures sports activities to keep up their license.
“On the whole our controls are working fairly properly and gun security is at a excessive stage,” mentioned Mika Lehtonen, head of the Nationwide Police's firearms administration.
Nonetheless, questions stay as to how a 12-year-old boy gained management of the gun.
Police mentioned the weapon was a revolver that belonged to an in depth relative, they usually had been investigating how the kid got here into possession of it. This will lead to a violation for the licensed proprietor.