Finnish police identify bullying as motive for deadly school shooting

April 3 (UPI) -- Finnish authorities said Wednesday that bullying was the motive for Tuesday's school shooting that killed a 12-year-old and wounded two other students.

Police said the suspect, also 12-year-old student, had transferred to the Viertola School at the beginning of the year.

"During questioning, the suspect has said that he has been the victim of bullying. This information has also been confirmed during the preliminary investigation by the police," the Wednesday police statement said.

They said the investigation further revealed the suspect threatened other students with a gun while leaving the school after the shooting.

That is being investigated as an illegal threat, according to police.

The gun used by the suspect belongs to a close relative. Police said they are investigating that as a separate firearms offense.

They noted, however, that the suspect "is not criminally responsible due to his age and therefore cannot be arrested or detained."

After the questioning and pre-trial investigation measures, Finnish police turned the suspect over to social welfare authorities.

The three students were shot Tuesday when one of their classmates opened fire using a handgun as classes began at the Viertola School in Vantaa, about 11 miles northeast of downtown Helsinki.

The suspect was caught an hour later in a suburb.

Police said that since the shooting happened there have been "an exceptionally large number of different threats, all of which are thoroughly investigated by the police and taken very seriously."

Police also said Wednesday that a lot of misinformation about the shooting is spreading on social media with, among other things, "screenshots of social media profiles of people unrelated to the case."

Police said in Finland those actions are illegal and could harm completely innocent people.