A SUSPECTED far-right knifeman stabbed a 12-year-old at a Finnish shopping centre leaving him seriously injured.
The suspect allegedly knifed the youngster several times from behind and tried to attack a second child before a heroic security guard came to the rescue.
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The grim rampage unfolded in the northern Finnish city of Oulu at around 6.30pm on Thursday.
Unverified footage online appeared to show the moment a brave security worker tackled the knifeman to the ground.
Public broadcaster YLE showed footage of a puddle of blood on the Valkea shopping centre floor.
The suspect is set to face two attempted murder charges, officials said.
The Finnish outlet has named Sebastian Lämsä as the suspected attacker behind last night’s horrors.
He reportedly targeted two Finnish children with foreign backgrounds – lunging for a second after injuring the 12-year-old who is now in stable condition.
The youngster’s injuries, although serious, were not life-threatening.
Cops and security guards apparently tackled him after he stabbed the little boy – putting an end to the attack.
He was then arrested and taken into custody.
Finland‘s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said in a statement: “The criminal investigation is still at an early stage and the police do not know the exact motive for the act.
“They know, however, that the suspect has a background in extreme right activities.”
Born in 1990, Lämsä allegedly has neo-Nazi links and has previously been convicted of serious acts of violence.
YLE reported the suspect was a former key member of the Nordic Resistance Movement – a neo-Nazi group banned in Finland since 2020.
He pepper-sprayed a left-wing politician at an Oulu Pride event in 2012, and in 2013 he was found guilty of stabbing someone at a speech on the rise of far-right groups.
He received a one and a half-year suspended sentence for the stabbing, YLE reports.
Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo condemned the shopping centre attack.
He said in a post on X: “Far-right violence is a genuine threat in Finland.
“There is no room for extremism of any kind in this country.”
The 12-year-old child was in a stable condition after being seriously wounded in the attack, police said.
Oula Silvennoinen, an extreme right-wing researcher at the University of Helsinki told YLE he isn’t shocked by the stabbing but said it is rare to have a child as the target of right-wing attacks.
He added: “This kind of violence is always expected from them. It’s only a matter of time because it hurts. There has been no visible improvement in the situation.
“Although the Nordic Resistance Movement has been abolished in Finland, its members have not disappeared anywhere.”
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