Child dead and two wounded in Finland school shooting

A child has died and two others have been seriously wounded in a shooting at a school in Finland, police say.

They said earlier that all three victims were 12 and that a suspect, also aged 12, had been arrested.

Parents told Finnish media that the shooting had taken place in a classroom at Viertola school in the city to the north of the capital Helsinki.

Police said they responded to the incident at 6:08am GMT and urged local residents to remain indoors.

In common with other Finnish schools, children had just returned to classes in Vantaa, north of the capital Helsinki, after the long Easter weekend.

Police said the suspect had run off after the shooting and was eventually detained "in a calm manner" on the other side of a local river in a northern district of northern Helsinki. They added that he had been carrying a firearm which they had taken from him.

Children were told to stay in their classrooms after the attack, public broadcaster YLE reported.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo described the shooting as deeply upsetting and said his thoughts were with the victims and their families as well as everyone at the school.

Vantaa is Finland's fourth biggest city with some 240,000 residents.

Viertola school has 800 students aged seven to 16 of both primary and middle-school age on two separate sites, with some 90 staff. The shooting took place at at the school's Jokiranta site where pupils aged 9-13 are taught.

Initially police said everyone involved was 13 but then revised their ages down to 12.

As news emerged of the shooting, parents gathered at the school to pick up their children, although the building where the incident took place remained cordoned off.