A stabbing incident occurred Thursday evening near the Ratina shopping center in Tampere that resulted in injuries to four people. Authorities are treating the case as four attempted murders and according to the police both the suspect and the victims are adults.
Four people were stabbed in Tampere on Thursday. Video Credits: Yle
Published: 03/07/25 | 18:04
An adult Finnish man who is the suspected assailant was immediately detained by police near the scene and officials have confirmed that although the victims sustained stab wounds none are currently believed to be in life-threatening condition.
No fatalities have been reported and first aid was administered on-site to those injured.
The case is being pursued as attempted murder in four instances although the classification of charges may change as the investigation develops.
At this point police have no indication that the attack was motivated by terrorism or racism and a press briefing has been scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m. to provide further updates.
Blood was visible at the scene of the crime and one eyewitness who was a customer at John Scott’s restaurant reported seeing police apprehend the suspect outside the establishment. Police received the emergency call at 4:23 p.m. and the lockdown was lifted after 6 p.m. Authorities had vacated the scene by 7 p.m.
A significant amount of blood was observed outside the Tampinkoski restaurant. The area had not been cordoned off and some pedestrians nearly stepped into the blood.
Bloodstains extended from the main entrance of the shopping center all the way to Hatanpää highway but these traces have since been cleaned. Nieminen also stated that personnel from social and crisis emergency services were at the location.
For now details regarding the victims’ conditions as well as the identity of the perpetrator and their motive remain unclear. Moreover, the specific locations and timing of each stabbing have not yet been determined or whether the stabbing was a premeditated act is still unknown.
Tampere City Security Manager Henri Rikander declined to provide any comments on the situation as well as Juha-Matti Mäkitalo who is the Emergency Preparedness and Security Manager for the City of Tampere also refrained from commenting and stated that he was relying on media sources for information.
Mauri Huhtamo, who is the CEO of Ratina Shopping Center Real Estate Ltd likewise did not comment on the events.
Several bystanders were visibly taken aback and one individual even expressed concerns for their personal safety. Otto Ahonen, who is a staff member at Ratina shopping center stated that the atmosphere within the center remained calm around 6 p.m.
“Nothing inside the shopping center appeared out of the ordinary. Without prior knowledge you wouldn’t have guessed something had occurred,” said Ahonen.
Eyewitness Aleksi Lagerkrantz mentioned that he exited the center just as multiple ambulances were leaving.
“There was a massive pool of blood on the ground between the bike stands and the playground along with a lot of paper,” Lagerkrantz noted. He also mentioned that police called for witnesses to come forward and then an announcement was made at 5:10 p.m. on the second floor requesting witness cooperation.
Another eyewitness, Erno Vanhala, arrived while police were securing the bus terminal near the shopping center. He reported seeing at least three ambulances on-site one of which departed along with a minimum of four police vehicles.
Vanhala said he later proceeded into the Ratina shopping center after receiving permission from police officers.
