Police crack down on flood of rumors after the school shooting in Finland – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

A 12-year-old boy was arrested on Wednesday for the school shooting in Viertola outside Helsinki in Finland.

A boy was killed and two girls are hospitalized with serious injuries.

In the wake of the shooting, a large spread of false information about the incident has been reported on social media.

Among other things, screenshots of profiles are being spread on social media with accusations that they had a connection to the shooting, Finnish police state in a press release.

The police are cracking down hard on sharing and the flood of rumors in social media.

– We emphasize that such actions are illegal and can affect completely innocent people. This behavior also encourages others who deliberately spread false information and encourage ‘trolling’ online, the press release states.

New student at school

On Wednesday, the 12-year-old suspect explained the background to the crime.

The motive for the act has been confirmed to be bullying, according to Finnish police.

The information is also consistent with the police’s own investigations, they add.

The 12-year-old boy was himself a student at the same school. He changed schools a few months earlier this year, the police say.

After the change of school, he was alone a lot, according to information to Helsingin Sanomat.

The head of the basic education school district, Ilkka Kalo, however, says on Wednesday that they had no information that the boy was bullied, several Finnish media reports.

Must have threatened other students

After the boy had carried out the school shooting, he is said to have threatened three students on their way to a school in the neighborhood of Siltämaki. He threatened them with a weapon, according to police information.

The arrest of the boy occurred about an hour after the school shooting on Tuesday. It went smoothly, according to witnesses to the incident.

It is known that the boy used a revolver-like handgun in the school shooting. The weapon belonged to a close relative, the police have confirmed.

The police are investigating the gun threats as an independent incident.