The National Bureau of Investigation has closed criminal investigation into the stabbings in Turku on the 18th of August last year. The incident was investigated as two murders with terrorist intent and nine attempted murders with terrorist intent. The legal classifications of the offences remained the same throughout the investigation. The suspect, a Moroccan citizen born in 1994, confessed the stabbings throughout his interviews.
In the night following the knife attack, initial legal classifications of the offences were changed from murders and attempted murders to murders with terrorist intent and attempted murders with terrorist intent as police had got possession of some property of the suspect, including a manifesto he had written and video-taped before the stabbings. Later on, when his phone was searched, police found photos and videos depicting ISIS. Similarly, his browser history reflected his interest in ISIS and violence.
When interviewed, the suspect stated that he had started to learn about ISIS three months before the knife attack. Also, according to persons close to him, the suspect had shown signs of radicalisation: he wanted to show ISIS videos to other people and told them that he considered the organisation’s actions justified.
According to the suspect, one reason for the stabbings was the US-led coalition air strikes on Raqqa, Syria.
Course of events
In the morning, the suspect rode a bike from his friend’s place in Kaarina, where he was staying, to Turku city centre. When interviewed, he told the police at he had taken two kitchen knives of his friend with him.
When in Turku, the suspect went to a prayer at the mosque by Aurajoki, continued to the park next to the Turku Cathedral and took a bus via bus station to the Turku Market Place.
The suspect stabbed four victims in the west corner of the Market Place, nearby the crossroads of Aurakatu and Yliopistokatu. One of the victims died, and three others were injured, one of them seriously. The suspect also attempted to stab one more, but without success.
Then the suspect moved quickly across the market place to the crossroads of Yliopistokatu and Kauppiaskatu where he stabbed one victim to death and injured three persons and another two at Brahenkatu where a police patrol from Southwest Finland Police Department apprehended the suspect. In the context of the apprehension, one of the patrolling police officers shot the suspect in the leg. The other officer tasered the suspect, as he was holding a victim and threatened to stab him. The suspect was then taken to hospital.
The whole incident in Turku city centre took about four to five minutes.
According to eye witnesses the suspect had kept shouting ”Allahu akbar”. The suspect has confirmed this and stated that he did not select his victims.
All in all, police interviewed tens of persons, including eye witnesses to the stabbings. In the criminal investigation, police found no evidence on the suspect being a member of any terrorist organization, but he acted alone.
One of the two instruments used in the commission of the offence jpg, 42,3 kB
Events on the map jpg, 134,5 kB
