Student stabs three girls in Finland school attack
HELSINKI - A male student stabbed three girls under the age of 15 at a school in Finland on May 20, after distributing a manifesto saying he wanted to attack girls, police said.
The girls did not sustain life-threatening injuries and the suspect was arrested shortly after the attack in Pirkkala, south-west Finland, police superintendent Jari Kinnunen told reporters.
He would not comment on the attacker's motive, but said police had 'no reason to doubt' he was the author of a manifesto sent to several media outlets.
'There are indications in the manifesto that there is a deliberate selection of girls or women,' Mr Kinnunen said, adding that the injured girls were 'understood to be from the same school'.
Police would not comment on whether the suspect knew his victims or how he selected them.
They also did not provide details about the girls' injuries or the weapon used in the attack, but said they were investigating it as attempted murder.
Public broadcaster YLE said one victim was stabbed in the neck, another in the hand and a third in the waist.
Media have identified the suspect as a 16-year-old, but police would confirm only he was 'a boy' at the school under the age of 18.
The Vahajarvi primary and middle school in Pirkkala has around 1,250 students aged around six to 15.
Something 'exciting'
A video of the attack was reportedly circulating online, but Mr Kinnunen said police had not yet determined if it was authentic.
YLE said the video showed a person in dark clothes with their face covered, moving around the school premises and attacking students.
At the end of the video, there is a scuffle and shouting is heard, it said.
Several Finnish media outlets meanwhile said they had received the manifesto.
YLE said that it described the reasons for his attack and that he planned to use a knife.
It quoted the author as saying he wanted to do something 'significant' and 'exciting', with the aim of going to prison for two to four years.
YLE also said the author claimed to have no friends and did not want any, and had planned the attack for about six months.
Police said they were alerted to the attack at 10.42am (3.42pm Singapore time), and the suspect was arrested at a market square near the school eight minutes later.
Kinnunen said he was not known to police before the attack. AFP
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