Knifeman shot in Finland after city stabbings

Police urge people to avoid parts of Turku as search for perpetrators continues

Finnish police patrol in front of the Central Railway Station, after stabbings in Turku, in Helsinki, Finland August 18, 2017. LEHTIKUVA/Linda Manner via REUTERS     ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. FINLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN FINLAND.
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Police shot a knifeman and were searching for other suspects after six people were stabbed in the western Finland city of Turku.

The knifeman injured five women and a man with a knife before he was shot in the leg and detained. The victims included a woman pushing a pram, according to local media reports.

The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.

Police were checking trains and buses out of Turku for other potential suspects.

Mobile phone footage taken from a residential block near to the scene of the stabbing showed a few people running away down the street.

The Finnish broadcaster YLE said several people were seen lying on the ground in Puutori Square in central Turku. Police used Twitter to urge people to avoid that part of the city.

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