Prosecutor charges attempted murder in first Oulu shopping centre stabbing case | Yle News

Two stabbings occurred in the Valkea shopping centre in Oulu a few days apart in June. Police believe that both incidents were racially motivated.

The public prosecutor's office in Oulu has filed charges in connection with the first of two stabbings at the city's Valkea shopping centre that occurred within a few days in June.

Juhani Sebastian Lämsäwho has a known neo-Nazi background and an extensive criminal record, was charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of illegal threat.

The case will be heard in Oulu District Court next month.

According to the prosecutor's office, the suspect confessed to the crimes, but Lämsä was not mentioned by name in the press release.

According to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Lämsä stabbed and seriously injured a 12-year-old boy of foreign background at the mall on June 13. Immediately afterward, he also attempted to stab a 14-year-old boy before being overpowered by a passerby and security personnel.

In another case, a teenager is suspected of stabbing and injuring a man of foreign origin in front of the same shopping center just a few days later. This was apparently a copycat crime.

The pre-trial investigation into this attack is still ongoing.

The two incidents shocked the foreign community in Oulu.

Police suspect racist motive

According to investigators, both attacks were racially motivated. However, the prosecutor's press release did not mention a possible motive for the first stabbing.

During police questioning, Lämsä denied that he had committed the crimes or that there were racist motives. However, he was a former key member of the Nordic Resistance Movement (PVL), a banned neo-Nazi group. In addition, he has been convicted of violent crimes and has a right-wing extremist background.

According to Yle, Lämsä is also separately accused of recklessly endangering the life or health of another person. The accusation relates to an incident in March 2021 in which a suspected explosive device was delivered to a post office.