Oulu bicycle stabbing suspect remains at large as police seek evidence

The investigation into a series of bicycle stabbings in Oulu is continuing, but police have not identified any new suspects, Yle reported on Tuesday. Two suspects have been questioned, while the person shown in police surveillance images has not been located.

Police chief inspector Petri Savela of the Oulu Police Department said investigators were still reviewing public tips and other material. One suspect was questioned in April and another in July. No one has been detained or arrested in connection with the cases.

Police have spoken to dozens of people, including potential eyewitnesses. More than 100 public tips have been received after police released photographs and video of one suspected attacker.

Savela would not say whether police know the identity or name of the man shown in the images, saying that disclosing the information could jeopardise the investigation. He urged people to continue providing tips about the images.

Police cannot make arrests based solely on tips, Savela said. They need additional concrete evidence, such as fingerprints, DNA, telecommunications data or surveillance footage. Police also receive false reports naming alleged perpetrators, sometimes deliberately, he said.

Police are using a broad range of coercive investigative measures in the case, but Savela declined to specify which measures are being used or whether covert methods such as telecommunications interception or technical surveillance are involved.

The investigation is complicated by the fact that the attacks took place in isolated locations, where there were few or no eyewitnesses. Reviewing the public tips also takes time.

Five people with a foreign background have been stabbed from bicycles in Oulu over the past year. Four of the attacks took place within a short period between April and June this year. The victims are three men and two women aged about 20 to 40, and some of their injuries were life threatening.