“All the necessary interrogations and investigative measures have been carried out by police,” Marko Särkkä, the detective chief inspector in charge of the inquiry, stated in a press release on Wednesday, 8 May.

“[Police] are working on compiling the pre-trial investigation records. We are still waiting for statements from a some different authorities and stakeholders.”

The 12-year-old suspect said during the interrogations that he had planned the act for two to three weeks, an admission that is corroborated by the findings of device searches. The searches indicate that the suspect demonstrated an interest in websites about school shootings and similar incidents, as well as firearms and their functioning, for months leading up to the shooting.

Police on Wednesday revealed that the suspect intended to shoot more than three people, but the teacher in the classroom managed to convince him to leave the school.

Police have previously described the actions taken by the teacher as exemplary.

“The suspect entered the school through the lavatory, raised a scarf over his face and walked into the classroom. In the classroom, the suspect declared that bullying stops now and then used a handgun to shoot three pupils,” said Särkkä.

The incident lasted for one to two minutes.

The suspect has named bullying as the motive for his actions, saying he was called names, discriminated against and excluded from the group. The pre-trial investigation, however, did not discover factors that would corroborate his accounts of bullying.

“Judging by the material produced for the pre-trial investigation, there were some isolated conflict situations years ago that have been cleared up. The suspect’s own subjective experience of bullying has not necessarily been visible outwards,” commented Särkkä.

The case will not be presented to a prosecutor for consideration of charges due to the young age of the suspect.

Aleksi Teivainen – HT