Stabbing and assaults in Kaivopuisto on graduation eve – police cleared park
Police cleared Helsinki's Kaivopuisto on Saturday around 10 p.m. as graduation celebrations turned disorderly. One person sustained a laceration to the face from a bladed weapon; a suspected 17-year-old youth was arrested.
Police cleared Kaivopuisto on graduation eve – stabbing suspect arrested
Several assaults and one stabbing occurred in Helsinki's Kaivopuisto on the evening of the schools' graduation day on Saturday, hs.fi reported. Police decided to clear the park around 10 p.m. as the situation became "disorderly".
According to Helsinki Police's command centre, after 9 p.m. several separate suspected assaults took place in Kaivopuisto. Police suspect that one person sustained a laceration to the face from a bladed weapon. The wound was not life-threatening, and the victim was taken for further treatment.
The suspect in the stabbing left the scene but police apprehended him shortly afterwards. He is suspected of aggravated assault, although the charge may be refined. Both the victim and the suspect are young men – according to Ilta-Sanomat, the suspect is 17 years old.
On Saturday evening, another man carrying a knife also behaved threateningly outside Hotel Presidentti in central Helsinki, police command centre said. He did not, however, direct violence at anyone. The man was arrested and is suspected of unlawful threatening and possession of an object suitable for causing serious harm to another person.
According to Helsinki City Youth Services, the evening operation encountered over 4,500 young people. Of these, 114 received water, plasters or "more substantial first aid". During the evening, 11 child welfare reports were made and 22 young people's parents were called.
"The evening went largely in good spirits. We encountered many young people and many also sought to talk to us. Some of the young people needed our help due to their poor condition caused by substance use," said Jaakko Rautavaara from Helsinki Youth Services, who led the operation, in a statement.
An hs.fi reporter present, Noona Bäckgren, observed that increasingly more police officers began gathering on the park's hillock after 10 p.m. Shortly before 11 p.m., the park had already been widely cleared. According to Bäckgren, many of the young people present appeared intoxicated, and the festive crowd was clearly younger – there appeared to be few graduates present. Many of the young people said they had either witnessed assaults or heard rumours of them.
Police told hs.fi shortly before 3 a.m. that there had been a few assault-related incidents and disturbances during the night across Helsinki. However, it was difficult for the command centre to assess whether there were more incidents than on a typical weekend night. There was no need to clear other parks.
Graduation was not Saturday's only celebration: Finland defeated Canada 4–2 in the ice hockey world championship, which lifted spirits at, among other places, the fan zone in Kamppi, where many Finnish supporters had gathered.
Source: Google News FI — Crime (fi)