A man with a knife has killed two people and wounded at least six in a stabbing rampage in a market square in the Finnish city of Turku.
Police shot the suspected attacker in the leg and arrested him on Friday. They said they had yet to establish the identity of the man who appeared to be of foreign origin, or his motive.
Eyewitnesses described the panic at the scene.
“A man walked towards the ice cream stand where I work, and he hit a woman three times. He started running, went past my kiosk, and he had a knife in his hand,” Terttu Lehtinen told Reuters.
She said that some other men ran behind, apparently chasing him.
“We were sitting by the market square, just enjoying the afternoon. Suddenly people started screaming and yelling, they were hysterical,” said another witness, who gave her name only as Reetta.
“We started running towards our car and, as we got there, my boyfriend said a woman had been stabbed several times in the neck,” she told Reuters.
Local media also reported a woman pushing a baby in her pram was among those attacked and injured.
The six wounded were taken to hospital, police said.
Prime Minister Juha Sipila said: “My deepest condolences to the families and close-ones of the Turku victims. The events of the day are shocking us all.” He added that the government would meet later
Finland is usually peaceful but the Security Intelligence Service raised the terrorism threat level in June, saying it had become aware of terrorism-related plans in Finland.