A 23-year-old Finnish man is being held on suspicion of four counts of attempted manslaughter, police said at a press conference in Tampere on Friday morning.
A detention hearing will be held at the Pirkanmaa District Court on Monday at 2pm.
Four adults, first three women and then a man, were stabbed near the Ratina shopping mall in central Tampere after 4pm on Thursday. Some of them sustained serious injuries. The first two victims were struck several times with a knife.
"The incident was very short. All crimes related to the incident took place within about a minute, " Chief Inspector Sakari Tuominen told reporters.
Murder charge possible
The charge could be upgraded to attempted murder, officials said.
"A murder charge is possible. That will be clarified during the preliminary investigation. If this were an attempted murder, it would have been premeditated," said Tuominen.
Police took the suspect in custody near the scene immediately after the attacks. He did not resist the detention. Police said that he may have been intoxicated, but said that lab results were not yet available.
"He had a so-called craftsman's knife with him, which is in the possession of police," said Tuominen, adding that it has a nine-centimetre blade.
According to police, the suspect has admitted carrying out the attacks. He denied having any racist, terrorist or political motive. The suspect said that he did not know any of the victims and chose them at random. He added that he did not remember whom he had attacked.
"The motive will be clarified during the preliminary investigation through interrogations. The perpetrator said that everyone was an enemy and that he wanted to end his own suffering in this way," Tuominen said.
The suspect has a previous criminal record, including assaults, with the most recent conviction in June. He was then sentenced to prison. At the press conference, police said that it was unclear why he was at large.
In 2023, he was suspected of a stabbing in an apartment. He has also been convicted of carrying out several store robberies at knifepoint.
