Finnish police shoot man who stabs several people in Turku

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A man stabbed several people in Finland's western city of Turku before police shot him in a leg and detained him Friday, police said, adding that authorities were looking for more potential suspects.

Finnish broadcaster YLE says several people were seen lying on the ground in Puutori square in central Turku. On Twitter, police urged people to avoid that part of Turku. One person has been "apprehended," Finnish police said, adding "several people had been stabbed" in two squares in the city. Their conditions weren't immediately available.

Tabloid Ilta-Sanomat says six people were injured, one man and five women, and that a woman with stroller was attacked by a man with a large knife. Prime Minister Juha Sipila said the government was closely monitoring the ongoing police operation and holding an emergency meeting later Friday.

Witness Laura Laine told broadcaster YLE that she stood approximately 20 meters (65 feet) from where the stabbing took place. "We heard that a young woman was screaming. We saw a man on the square and a knife glittered. He was waving it in the air. I understood that he had stabbed someone," Laine was quoted as saying.

Police planned a news conference at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT; 12 p.m. EDT) in Turku, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) west of Helsinki, with Finland's interior minister and the national police chief. Finnish television channel MTV said security had been heightened at Helsinki's international airport but didn't give details.

"Police have told us not to go to the city center so we are in this coffee shop a few blocks away from the city center," said Vanessa Deggins, an American who is studying business in one of Turku's three universities. She didn't witness the actual attack, but heard sirens going past.

"This is a safe country by American standards. I have gone home alone at 2-3 a.m. ... I feel safe. This is a safe country."

No sign as to whether this is another terror attack, or another murderous lunatic....

Two dead, six injured in Finland stabbing spree.

Turku (Finland) (AFP) - Police shot and wounded a suspect after a stabbing spree in which a man killed two people and wounded six others in the Finnish city of Turku.

Within hours of the attack on Friday the force had announced increased police patrols across the country.

"There are eight victims in the stabbing. Two dead and six injured," Turku police tweeted after the assault in a market square. A hospital official told journalists that all the victims were adults.

Police shot a suspect in the thigh minutes after the attack at another square nearby, arresting him and confiscating his knife.

His identity has not yet been established, police said late Friday, nor was the motive for the attack clear.

Police described the suspect in custody as "a young man of foreign origin", providing no other details except to say they were collaborating with the Finnish Immigration Service.

While security forces wrote on Twitter that police were "looking for other possible perpetrators", police told journalists it was likely there was only one attacker.

Police assured Turku residents the city was safe on Friday evening.

The stabbing spree comes with Europe on high alert a day after drivers slammed vehicles into pedestrians in two attacks in Spain, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 100 others. The Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for the Barcelona attack.

In Turku, images of a body covered in a white blanket were published on some online news sites, including the local daily Turun Sanomat.

Police patrols stepped up

The attack took place in the heart of the port city in southwestern Finland, just after 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) in a bustling neighbourhood.

"The perpetrator stabbed two people on the market square, one of whom came to the aid of the other," police told reporters.

"Then the perpetrator left the square to a busy street and stabbed more people."

Police arrested a suspect minutes later.

One victim died at the scene and the other in hospital, police said.

Bystanders had rushed to the scene to help the victims.

"I saw an old woman, I tried to help her. She was bleeding all over her body," Wali Hashi, who witnessed the attack, told AFP.

"She was wounded to her neck with the knife... I took her aside."

Another witness, who did not want to give his name, told public television YLE: "A young woman screamed really loudly at one corner of the square. We saw a man on the square, with a knife in his hand and he was waving it."

Police said the suspect in custody was being treated in hospital.

Central Turku -- located about 140 kilometres (90 miles) from the capital Helsinki -- was swiftly cordoned off and stores and restaurants closed.

Police also tweeted that they had raised their emergency readiness across the country after the stabbing, increasing security at airports and train stations and putting more officers on the streets.

"The number of patrols is being increased, information gathering is intensified," they wrote.

Investigators from Finland's National Bureau of Investigation were also examining surveillance camera footage from the scene.

'What we've been afraid of'

Prime Minister Juha Sipila tweeted that his government was "following the situation in Turku closely and the police operation underway".

Turku mayor Aleksi Randall said in a statement it was "difficult to understand that such violence would happen on this scale in Turku.

"Occurrences that have been all too frequent in Europe and around the world have now arrived here, which is what we've been afraid of, too."

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU "strongly condemns" the attack.

Police refused to confirm if the stabbing had been terror-related.

"At this stage of our investigations we can't say if it is a matter of terrorism," police told a press conference.

In June, Finland's intelligence and security agency Supo raised the country's terror threat level by a notch, from "low" to "elevated", the second notch on a four-tier scale.

It said at the time it saw an increased risk of an attack committed by IS.

"Supo has become aware of more serious terrorism-related projects and plans in Finland," it said.

"Foreign terrorist fighters (who have) left from Finland have gained significant positions within IS in particular and have an extensive network of relations in the organisation," it said in its June assessment.

In 2012, Finland's then-prime minister Jyrki Katainen escaped a knife attack in Turku while campaigning for municipal elections. The man who approached him carrying a knife was found to be psychologically disturbed and no charges were brought against him.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/two-dead-six-injured-finland-stabbing-spree-200507709.html

Police arrest five in raid after Finland stabbing spree.

Turku (Finland) (AFP) - Finnish police arrested five people in a Turku apartment overnight in their investigation into a stabbing rampage that left two people dead, they said Saturday.

Police shot and wounded a knife-wielding suspect on Friday, arresting him minutes after an afternoon stabbing spree at a Turku market square. Police on Saturday raised the number of injured in the attack from six to eight.

"There was a raid and we have now six suspects in custody, the main suspect and five others," detective superintendent Markus Laine of the National Bureau of investigation told AFP.

"We are investigating the role of these five other people but we are not sure yet if they had anything to do with (the attack)... We will interrogate them, after that we can tell you more. But they had been in contact with the main suspect," Laine said.

Police have not confirmed the identity of the suspect, but Laine said investigators were "pretty sure" they knew who he was.

Police have so far only described him as "a young man of foreign origin", providing no other details except to say they were collaborating with the Finnish Immigration Service.

The suspect is being treated in hospital in intensive care for a gunshot wound to the thigh.

The motive for the attack was not yet known, and police have refused to confirm if it was terror-related.

"We haven't yet interrogated the main suspect because of his medical condition," Laine said.

Media reports in Finland said police believed the suspect had picked his victims at random, but Laine could not confirm that.

Police have said it was likely the suspect acted alone, but added they were looking for "other possible perpetrators."

Central Turku was swiftly cordoned off after the attack, which occurred just after 4:00 pm (1300 GMT), although the area was reopened several hours later.

Finland also raised its emergency readiness across the country after the stabbing, increasing security at airports and train stations and putting more officers on the streets.

In June, Finland's intelligence and security agency Supo raised the country's terror threat level by a notch, from "low" to "elevated", the second notch on a four-tier scale.

It said at the time it saw an increased risk of an attack committed by the the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/police-arrest-five-raid-finland-stabbing-spree-065214317.html

Looks like it was a terrorist attack:

http://news.sky.com/story/finland-terror-stabbings-suspect-is-moroccan-man-18-10995118

The man suspected of several stabbings in Finland is an 18-year-old Moroccan and the attack was 'terror' related, police believe.

An attacker killed two people and wounded eight in the city of Turku on Friday before police shot him in the leg and arrested him.

Finnish police have revealed that both dead people were Finnish. Among the injured were two Swedes and one Italian.

"The act had been investigated as murder, but during the night we received additional information which indicates that the criminal offenses are now terrorist killings," police said in a statement.