2 Dead In Stabbing Attack In Turku, Finland
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Two people were killed Friday in a stabbing attack in Turku, Finland, and police say they have apprehended a suspect after shooting him in the leg.
Regional police forces said on Twitter that six other people were injured in the attack, which took place in the center of the city about 100 miles away from the capital, Helsinki. It wasn't immediately clear what condition they were in.
Authorities did not immediately identify the attacker or state what his motivations may be. The Associated Press reports that Finland's YLE broadcaster quotes the county's top police chief Seppo Kolehmainen saying that "nothing is known about the motives ... or what precisely has happened in Turku."
Police said the incident "was not being investigated as a terror attack, but that could change as new information comes to light," according to YLE.
It's also not clear how many people took part in the attack. Local police say they are "searching for possible more perpetrators in Turku."
They asked people to avoid the area in the center of the city, though according to YLE, by evening authorities said they "were confident that the centre of Turku was safe for the general public once again."
Police presence has been ramped up around the country, and YLE quotes the interior minister saying that "surveillance of foreigners was to be stepped up at ports and airports."
The Interior Ministry says the case has been turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation.
The AP reports that witness Laura Laine described the attack to YLE: "We heard that a young woman was screaming. We saw a man on the square and a knife glittered. He was waving it in the air. I understood that he had stabbed someone."
Another eyewitness, Jesse Brown, told the BBC: "I saw police shoot a person, a man I think. People were running and there was talk about a knife attack, possibly multiple perpetrators."
A las 16:02 hora local (+3) el viernes un hombre apuñaló con un cuchillo a varias personas aparentemente al azar en la , , . La policía informó que hubo ocho heridos y dos muertos. El atacante corrió a otra parte y comenzó a apuñalar a más personas después de su primer ataque. La policía le disparó en la pierna y lo arrestó a las 16:05.

La policía dijo que estaban tratando el incidente como un acto terrorista. Además, identificaron al agresor como un joven de 18 años proveniente de Marruecos y confirmaron su identidad, aunque no la revelaron públicamente.

Los funcionarios policiales informaron que la seguridad se endureció en toda Finlandia.

En un comunicado, la policía afirmó que estaban investigando el caso como un acto terrorista: "El suceso estaba siendo investigado como un homicidio, pero durante la noche recibimos nueva información que indicaba que los delitos eran parte de asesinatos terroristas". Crista Granroth, hablando en la Oficina Nacional de Investigación, dijo que el atacante eligió como blanco a mujeres: "Parece que el sospechoso eligió como blancos a mujeres, y que los hombres que resultaron heridos fue debido a que intentaron proporcionar ayuda a las víctimas o prevenir los ataques". Añadió que de los ocho heridos, seis fueron mujeres.

La policía arrestó otros cuatro sospechosos y emitió una orden internacional de captura para otro sospechoso.