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Police reveal teacher’s heroic role in Vantaa school shooting | Yale News
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Police reveal teacher’s heroic role in Vantaa school shooting | Yale News

The 12-year-old suspect told police he had a “target list” of 15 people he claimed were bullies and planned to shoot as many of them as possible.

The photo shows the Viertola school in Vantaa.

Viertola School in Vantaa, site of the April 2 shooting. Image: Police

Police investigating the deadly school shooting in Vantaa last spring have revealed the important role a teacher played in convincing the 12-year-old suspect to leave the school premises, preventing any further victims.

A boy died and two girls were seriously injured when the suspect opened fire with a gun in a sixth-grade classroom at Viertola School on the morning of April 2.

It was reported in the early stages of the investigation that the suspect committed the attack because he was assaulted, but say the police now there is no evidence to support this claim.

During his interrogation, the suspect told police he had a “target list” of 15 people he claimed were thugs and that he intended to shoot as many of them as possible.

“leave with me”

Police have interviewed 28 students and a number of teachers during the preliminary investigation and say they have established a clear understanding of the sequence of events that led to the tragedy.

The teacher who was in the classroom at the time of the shooting told police the severity of the situation was not immediately apparent and it took some time for many in the classroom to realize the gun was real.

A number of students even thought the gun was part of an April Fool’s Day prank.

When the suspect started shooting, the teacher came out from behind the desk and approached him, then pointed the gun at the teacher.

“I said something like, now you have to stop or be quiet,” the professor told the police.

When the boy did not respond, the teacher called for help from a colleague in a nearby class.

“I went over to him and told him to ‘calm down’ and ‘let’s get this over with, but first we need to calm down,'” the second teacher on the scene recalled telling the suspect.

The suspect then said that no one was allowed to leave the classroom, but the second teacher gave him a counter instruction.

“I said, ‘No, the others are going elsewhere and you’re going with me,'” the teacher recalled.

According to the teachers and students interviewed by the police, the suspect complied with this instruction and began to leave.

While the suspect moved towards the door, the teacher who was initially in the classroom began to move the students to another classroom as well as to help the injured. The first teacher also called the emergency services.

He then left the school and was detained by the police in the Siltamäki district of Helsinki.

He also told investigators that after running into the open air, he fired the gun several times into the air and also shot into a parked car.

Grave candles, soft toys, flowers and cards on the ground.

The shooting shocked Finland. Image: Jari Kovalainen / Yle

Suspect’s father: “It was a terrible shock”

During the preliminary investigation, the police also heard from the suspect’s parents.

One of the boy’s parents told police they were at work when he heard news of a shooting at the Viertola school. Their first thought was that their son might have been a victim.

“I told my boss I was leaving work now. I was going to go home to see if my son had gone there because of the shooting,” the parent told police.

However, when the parents arrived at home, they were told that their son was the suspected perpetrator.

“It was a terrible shock, I couldn’t figure it out,” said the parent.

Later, a close relative of the family called the father and told them that their revolver was missing.

The suspect later told police that he had taken the revolver and ammunition from the relative’s gun cabinet a few days earlier.

“Then I started to feel terrified, but I still didn’t want to believe it,” the father said during police interviews.