One person has been detained, amid two separate assault incidents at a Porvoo school on Wednesday.
It happened at Pääskytie secondary in the city, with police saying someone with no connection to the school attacked an employee inside the building. That person was detained by officers.
MTV News reports that it was the school principal who was assaulted, punched in the face by his attacker when he refused to leave the building.
Earlier in the day a student was attacked on school grounds but police aren’t yet linking the two incidents.
“Students and staff protected themselves indoors during the incident. The protection inside all went went well. Porvoo schools have regularly practiced drills to take cover” says Principal Kimmo Sirén.
Police say the matter is still under investigation.
Police monitor a range of school threats
East Uusimaa Police explain that they deal with a range of threats to schools on a weekly basis.
“Most of the threats are made against secondary schools, but the phenomenon is also found in upper secondary and vocational schools, and to some extent primary schools” explains Senior Sergeant Riku Aaltonen.
Aaltonen says officers have a duty to respond to all threats against schools, and although most of the recent threats have been intended as a joke, young people may not be aware of the consequences their actions have.
“These threats can be taken forward to the prosecution stage, even if the perpetrator of the threat says it was ‘only a joke'” says Aaltonen.
Once they identify the person making the threat, police could confiscate their belongings like computer or mobile phone while the investigation continues, and this could take several weeks.
The person making the threat will also stay on the local police’s radar in future, and the school might impose its own sanctions.
“The purpose of police preventive action and cooperation with authorities is to break the path that may lead to a more serious violent criminal act. Because schools threats are always serious, we encourage parents to discuss with their children the consequences of such actions” says Aaltonen.
