School shooting brings up tough questions for Finland
By Laura Gozzi
In the aftermath of the shooting that saw a 12-year-old kill another child and injure two in the city of Vantaa, north of the capital Helsinki, the headlines in Finland have been full of soul-searching.
“What kind of events led to such an extreme act?”
“How could a 12-year-old get hold of a gun?”
“Could the incident have been prevented somehow?”
Few of these questions have had answers so far.
Instead, harrowing details about the events in Vantaa have continued to emerge.
The boy wore a mask and noise-cancelling headphones, showing his actions were premeditated. He shot his victims on a school premises they all knew well and spent time in every day. The two girls he wounded are still in a serious condition in hospital.
Most shocking of all, the killer was 12 years old.
