Rabat – The man who stabbed to death two people on Friday in Turku, southwestern Finland, is an 18-year-old Moroccan, Finish police said on Saturday, opening an investigation for terrorism.
“The attack was first described as murder, but during the night we received additional information that indicates that criminal offenses are now murders with terrorist intent,” the police said in a statement reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The authorities formally identified the suspect, “a Moroccan citizen of 18 years,” without giving additional details. The police quickly arrested the knife-wielding suspect on Friday on a square in downtown Turku, after shooting him in the leg.
Casualties rose from six injured to eight overnight, including three individuals currently hospitalized in intensive care. The two people killed by the assailant were Finnish, the police said. Among the wounded are one Italian and two Swedes.
According to Finnish authorities, the main suspect is currently hospitalized. The police have not yet been able to interrogate him and have not yet determined his motives. “We now have six suspects in custody, the main suspect in addition to five others,” said Commissioner Markus Laine of the National Bureau of Investigation, reports the AFP.
“We are investigating the role of these five individuals, but we are not yet sure if they have a connection [with the attack] … We will interrogate them and then we can say more … but they have been in contact with the main suspect,” added Laine.
In June, the Finnish security services, Supo, have raised their assessment of the risk of terrorist attacks, announcing that they had identified an activity of the Islamic State group that could target Finland. The risk, previously considered “low,” is now “high,” the second level on a scale of four
