Finland steps up security after fatal stabbings

Finland’s interior minister says security is being stepped up across the Nordic country after stabbings that killed at least two people in a western city there.

Paula Risikko made the announcement during a news conference in Turku, where a man stabbed several people before police shot him in his leg and detained him Friday. Police said authorities were looking for other potential suspects.

Finnish broadcaster YLE says several people were seen lying on the ground in Puutori square in central Turku. On Twitter, police urged people to avoid that part of Turku.

One person had been “apprehended,” Finnish police said, adding that “several people had been stabbed” in two squares in the city. Their conditions weren’t immediately available.

Tabloid Ilta-Sanomat said that six people were injured, one man and five women, and that a woman with a stroller was attacked by a man with a large knife.

Prime Minister Juha Sipila said the government was closely monitoring the ongoing police operation and holding an emergency meeting later Friday.

Witness Laura Laine told broadcaster YLE that she stood approximately 65 feet from where the stabbing took place.

“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,” Laine was quoted as saying.

Police planned a news conference at 7 p.m. local time in Turku, about 90 miles west of Helsinki, with Finland’s interior minister and the national police chief.

Finnish television channel MTV said security had been heightened at Helsinki’s international airport but didn’t give details.

“Police have told us not to go to the city center, so we are in this coffee shop a few blocks away from the city center,” said Vanessa Deggins, an American who is studying business in one of Turku’s three universities. She didn’t witness the actual attack, but heard sirens going past.

“This is a safe country by American standards. I have gone home alone at 2 to 3 a.m. ... I feel safe. This is a safe country.”