Kuopio police officer sustains serious injuries in stabbing
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Drops of blood leading from the door of a small apartment house into the yard in the Petonen district of the city of Kuopio on Monday were stark reminders of a confrontation the previous night in which a police officer was stabbed.
The young policeman was struck in the neck by a knife wielded by a young man in the apartment in the early hours of Monday.
The policeman, born in 1979, underwent surgery at Kuopio University Hospital on Monday. The injuries are serious, but after the surgery the Kuopio police said that he was out of any immediate danger.
The attacker, a 39-year-old man with a history of violent behaviour, is under arrest. Investigation of the incident, which is quite unusual in Finland, has been given over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The attack took place when the police officer and his partner responded to a call to subdue a man who was in the apartment making noise and breaking furniture.
At first, the man had behaved calmly, but shortly before he was to be taken into police custody, he took out a knife and struck the police officer in the neck.
The injured policeman was able to step back and his partner managed to subdue the stabber after a struggle. The man, who had been released from prison in July, was intoxicated at the time of the stabbing.
The stabbing of the police officer is being investigated as a case of attempted murder.
Helsingin Sanomat
