Two suspected criminals sustained bullet wounds when police shot at them in two separate incidents in Helsinki and Vaasa during the weekends, reported local media.

The Office of the Prosecutor General will investigate into the incidents of using firearms in both the cases.

The police criminal justice unit of the Office of the Prosecutor General is responsible for investigating suspected offences committed by police officers, reported the national broadcaster Yle.

The first incident took place in Helsinki on Saturday when police shot a youth of 20 years equipped with a knife at his leg in Herttoniemi allegedly for his threatening behaviours.

The law enforcers claimed he did not obey their orders but ran towards a police officer wielding the knife, said the Yle report adding that he also reportedly threatened the passersby with the knife.

In another incident, a constable of the Ostrobothnia police fired gunshot at an armed man in the stomach in the early morning of Sunday.

A police statement said the man was shot when he did not pay heed to the police orders and advanced towards them.

He was taken to hospital after giving first aid on the spot.

The police are investigating the cases as violently resisting the officials.

The Police University College said Finnish police officers fired a total of 122 shots between 2003 and 2013 -- an average of around a dozen each year, said the Yle report.

According to the National Police Board, officers are only allowed to use their weapons to stop an individual who poses an immediate and grave danger to someone else’s life or health -- but only if there is no other alternative available.