3 students injured in knief attack in Pirkkala school

Three female students were injured in an incident of stabbing at Vähäjärvi School in Pirkkala under Pirkanmaa region on Tuesday morning, police said.

The incident took place at about 10:40 am when a 16-year-old male student of the school attacked them with sharp weapon indiscriminately.

Responding to an alarm, police rushed to the spot and arrested the attacker immediately.

Local newspapers, quoting eyewitnesses said that the boy, dressed in black, was standing at a street corner after the attack and police arrested him without resistance.

The police, however, did not divulge the detail identities of the attacker and the injured students but said that all of the victims are under 15-years old and students of the same school.

Police informed the guardians of the victims. The injured students were taken to hospital.

The conditions of the injured were not life threatening, said police.

Local media, quoting the statement of the suspect before the arrest, reported that the suspect has been planning the attack for six months and intended to stab girls at the school.

According to the planning, he wanted to do something “special and exciting", with the intention of going to prison for two to four years.

The police are investigating into the incident as three cases of attempted murders.

Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz condemned the incident.

"Violence in schools is unequivocally to be condemned," the minister said in a written statement.