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Crime

Finnish stabbing suspect 'lied about name & age'

August 27, 2017

Finnish police have released new information on the young Moroccan who allegedly killed two women in a Turku stabbing rampage. The man had been falsely identified as 18-year-old Abderrahman Mechkah.

https://p.dw.com/p/2ivlt
Polizisten in Finnland
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Björkman

The suspect gave a false name and age when talking to the police after last week's attack, authorities said on Sunday. The police have since determined that he was born in 1994, and that his name is not Abderrahman Mechkah, as previously stated. The suspect also used a false name when he requested asylum in Finland in 2016.

Officials refused to release the suspect's real name to the media. His true identity was reportedly provided by international police contacts.

"His identity has now been confirmed, so we know who we are dealing with," Detective Chief Inspector Crista Granroth of the National Bureau of Investigation told the Reuters news agency.

Previously, German authorities said that the suspect used multiple identities while living in Germany between late 2015 and early 2016.

Suspect denies terror link

The Moroccan admitted to killing two women during his rampage in the Finnish town of Turku. Six other women were also injured, as well as two men who attempted to stop the attack.

He was shot in the leg by a police officer and hospitalized.

Finnish authorities treat the incident as an act of terrorism. However, Finnish media say that the man denied the intent to kill or being a member of a terror network. Six more people were detained in the wake of the attacks, although three have since been released.

dj/rc (AFP, AP, Reuters)