Finland mourns 12-year old boy killed in school shooting

Flags flew at half-mast across Finland on Wednesday as the country mourned a 12-year-old boy who was shot dead at school, with police saying a fellow sixth-grader was their only suspect.
Two other pupils at Viertola school, both girls also aged 12, were severely wounded in Tuesday’s attack and were undergoing treatment in hospital, police said in a statement.
“The police have a preliminary understanding of the motive for the act, but for investigative reasons it cannot be confirmed yet,” police said.
They said the suspect had admitted the shooting during an initial investigation but no one has yet spoken in public on the suspect’s behalf. He was put in the care of social services because a child cannot be remanded in custody.
After word spread of the shooting on Tuesday morning, anxious parents waited for hours outside the school as teachers kept classroom doors shut to protect their pupils while police searched the buildings.