YLE: Second Oulu stabbing investigated as attempted murder

THE STABBING in Valkea Shopping Centre in Oulu on 18 June is being investigated as attempted murder, Janne Koskela, a detective chief inspector at Oulu Police Department, confirmed to YLE on Tuesday.

The 15-year-old suspect was detained for probable cause of attempted manslaughter on Friday, 21 June.

Koskela told the Finnish public broadcasting company that it seems unlikely that the offence will be downgraded back to attempted manslaughter. The suspect is believed to have modelled his attack, which targeted a local man of foreign background, after a stabbing carried out in the same shopping centre days earlier by a 33-year-old man with ties to far-right organisations.

The 33-year-old man stabbed a 12-year-old child of foreign background and tried to stab a 14-year-old child of foreign background on 13 June. He has been placed in pre-trial detention for probable cause of two attempted murders.

Police have identified racism as the motive of the more recent stabbing. Also Karl Eriksson, the barrister appointed to defend the 15-year-old suspect, has communicated that the suspect chose his target based on the colour of his skin, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

Koskela on Monday stated to the daily newspaper that investigators cannot yet rule out the possibility of terrorist intent in the second stabbing.

“What I can say about that is that chapter 34 of the criminal code is naturally something that we’re constantly examining as we move forward,” he said to the newspaper. “When you’re investigating these kinds of serious violent offences, the incidents are examined on a broad basis and from many viewpoints while engaging in co-operation and weighing up the [possible] terrorist offences in the context.”

Chapter 34a of the criminal code pertains to terrorist offences.

The Oulu stabbing, he said, contains similar elements to the terrorist attack that took place in Turku in 2017. The cases have significant differences, too. In Turku, the perpetrator had issued advance warning of his intentions, published a political manifesto and communicated that he was carrying out the act on behalf of the self-styled Islamic State.

“The Oulu incidents don’t have these features,” said Koskela.

Aleksi Teivainen – HT