HELSINKI, Finland --
A teenager opened fire at a high school in southern Finland on Wednesday, killing one person and wounding three others, a municipal official said.
The incident was Finland's first known school shooting.
Heidi Hagman, assistant to the municipality director in Tuusula, some 30 miles north of the capital, Helsinki, told The Associated Press that an 18-year-old man opened fire inside the Jokela high school, shooting four people and killing one.
She said three others had been wounded and the shooter was still inside the school, which had been surrounded by police.
"Some of the pupils have managed to escape from the school but others are still inside," Hagman said.
She said more than 400 students between the ages of 12 and 18 were enrolled at the school.
"There has been a shooting, but we can't say anything more at this stage," Senior Constable Tuomi Juola told The Associated Press. "Ambulances and police cars are on standby."
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen described the situation as "extremely tragic" and said the government would hold an emergency meeting.
Kim Kiuru, a teacher at the school, said the principal announced over the public address system just before noon that all students should remain in their class rooms.
"I stayed in the corridor to listen to more instructions, having locked my classroom door," Kiuru told the YLE radio station. "After that I saw the gunman running with what appeared to be a small-caliber handgun in his hand through the doors towards me, after which I escaped to the corridor downstairs and ran in the opposite direction."
Kiuru said he saw a woman's body as he fled the building.
"Then my pupils shouted at me out of the windows to ask what they should do and I told them to jump out of the windows, which were at a level of 1 1/2 floors, and all my pupils were saved," Kiuru said.
Information from: AP Wire Service
At least 7 dead in Finland shooting
By MARIUS TURULA, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago
TUUSULA, Finland - An 18-year-old man opened fire at a high school in southern Finland on Wednesday, leaving at least seven people dead and 11 wounded, officials said.
Officials did not say if the shooter was among the dead or wounded, but police said the situation was "under control" after they surrounded the high school in Tuusula, some 30 miles north of the capital, Helsinki.
"It's at least seven dead," medical response leader Eero Hirvensalo told The Associated Press. One person was "severely injured" while 10 people had minor injuries, he said.
It was the first known school shooting in Finland, where gun ownership is fairly common by European standards, but shootings are rare.
A local official said earlier that students remained inside the school, but police did not say whether the gunman was holding hostages. Police also did not confirm the number of victims.
Kim Kiuru, a teacher at the school, said the principal announced over the public address system just before noon that all students should remain in their classrooms.
"I stayed in the corridor to listen to more instructions having locked my classroom door," Kiuru told the YLE radio station. "After that I saw the gunman running with what appeared to be a small-caliber handgun in his hand through the doors toward me after which I escaped to the corridor downstairs and ran in the opposite direction."
Kiuru said he saw a woman's body as he fled the building.
"Then my pupils shouted at me out of the windows to ask what they should do and I told them to jump out of the windows ... and all my pupils were saved," Kiuru said.
More than 400 students, ages of 12 to 18, were enrolled at Jokela, said Heidi Hagman, assistant to the Tuusula municipality director.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen described the situation as "extremely tragic" and said the government would hold an emergency meeting.
Report: At Least 7 Dead in Finland School Shooting
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
AP
HELSINKI, Finland — A teen opened fire at a school in southern Finland Wednesday, killing at least seven, before being surrounded by police, media reports and a municipal official said.
The shooter — an 18-year-old man — was still inside the school along with some students who had not managed to escape, said Heidi Hagman, assistant to the Tuusula municipality director.
She told the Associated Press that the man had shot four people, and that "one of those shot is probably the principal."
Police confirmed the shooting at Jokela High School in Tuusula, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki, but said they could not give details and did not confirm fatalities.
At least seven people were killed in the shooting, the head of the medical response team told Reuters on Wednesday. This number could not be confirmed.
"I cannot confirm the exact number of the dead, but there are definitely more than two," Dr Eero Hirvensalo told Reuters. "One person in critical condition was brought to a hospital in Helsinki as well."
"The situation is under control," said police spokesman Tero Haapala, adding that "there is no danger to outsiders now."
Kim Kiuru, a teacher at the school, said the principal announced over the PA system just before noon (1000GMT) that all students should remain in their classrooms.
"I stayed in the corridor to listen to more instructions having locked my classroom door," Kiuru told the YLE radio station. "After that I saw the gunman running with what appeared to be a small caliber handgun in his hand through the doors toward me after which I escaped to the corridor downstairs and ran in the opposite direction."
Kiuru said he saw a woman's body as he fled the building.
"Then my pupils shouted at me out of the windows to ask what they should do and I told them to jump out of the windows ... and all my pupils were saved," Kiuru said.
Finnish media said the shooter revealed his plans in a YouTube posting before the attack.
A YouTube video titled "Jokela High School Massacre" showed a picture of a building by a lake and two photos of a young man holding a hand gun. The person who posted the video was identified in the user profile as an 18-year-old man from Finland.
The profile contained a text calling for a "revolution against the system."
Police could not immediately be reached to comment on the video.
The Ilta-Sanomat newspaper initially reported three people were killed, but later said only one victim had died.
It was the first reported incident of a shooting at a Finnish school, where previously violent incidents usually involved knives but had never resulted in death.
More than 400 students aged 12 through 18 were enrolled at Jokela, Hagman said.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen described the situation as "extremely tragic" and said the government would hold an emergency meeting.
TUUSULA, Finland (Nov. 7) - An 18-year-old gunman killed eight people at a high school in southern Finland on Wednesday, then shot himself but survived, police said.
Mikko Stig, Lehtikuva / AP
A police officer works outside a high school in Tuusula, Finland, after a teenager opened fire Wednesday, killing eight people, including the school
's principal. The gunman then shot himself, but survived, authorities said.
They said the high school's principal was among the dead.
Police said the gunman, who used a .22-caliber pistol, was taken to hospital with serious wounds and the situation was "under control" after officers surrounded Jokela High School in Tuusula, some 30 miles north of the capital, Helsinki.
It was the first known school shooting in Finland, where gun ownership is fairly common by European standards, but shootings are rare.
Medical response leader Eero Hirvensalo told The Associated Press that one person had been "severely injured" while 10 people had minor injuries.
Finnish media reports said the shooter had revealed his plans on the video Web site YouTube.
A posting titled "Jokela High School Massacre" showed a picture of a building by a lake that appears to be the school, along with two photos of a young man holding a handgun. The person who posted the video was identified in the user profile as an 18-year-old man from Finland. The posting was later removed.
The profile contained a text calling for a "revolution against the system."
Police could not immediately be reached to comment on the video.
Kim Kiuru, a teacher at the school, said the principal had announced over the public address system just before noon that all students should remain in their classrooms.
"I stayed in the corridor to listen to more instructions, having locked my classroom door," Kiuru told the YLE radio station. "After that I saw the gunman running with what appeared to be a small-caliber handgun in his hand through the doors toward me, after which I escaped to the corridor downstairs and ran in the opposite direction."
Kiuru said he saw a woman's body as he fled the building.
"Then my pupils shouted at me out of the windows to ask what they should do and I told them to jump out of the windows ... and all my pupils were saved," Kiuru said.
More than 400 students, from 12 to 18, were enrolled at Jokela, a local official said.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen described the situation as "extremely tragic" and said the government would hold an emergency meeting.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
Posted by: pahapoika
very sad.
knives are more common , but handguns are rare.
Report: Police Discover Link Between Finnish School Shooter and U.S. Plotter
Tuusula, Finland — The YouTube killer who shot dead eight members of his school in Finland before turning his gun on himself had internet contacts with an American teenager who was planning a shooting spree in a high school in Philadelphia, it was claimed yesterday, according to a Times of London report.
The disclosure could turn upside down previous assumptions about the dynamics of school massacres. Until now, teenage killers were regarded as depressed loners whose imagination had been stoked by aggressive computer games. Now it seems that information may have been shared by potential killers over the Internet: a virtual community of young people who idolize the 1999 Columbine High School murders, said the Times of London.
“It’s highly probable that there was some form of contact between Pekka-Eric Auvinen and Dillon Cossey,” a spokesman for the cyber crime department of Helsinki police said. Dillon Cossey, 14, was arrested last month on suspicion of planning to storm his old school, Plymouth Whitemarsh. Police acting on a tipoff found a 9mm semi-automatic rifle, handmade grenades, a .22 pistol and a .22 single-shot rifle at his home. Less than two weeks later Auvinen, already a member of a shooting club, was buying his first gun — a .22 pistol — and expressing interest in a 9mm semi-automatic.
Police do not believe this to have been a coincidence. The two youths are thought to have made contact over two MySpace groups, “RIP Eric and Dylan” — a reference to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who killed 12 schoolmates at Columbine — and “Natural Selection”.
Dillon Cossey used the alias Shadow 19462 on internet forums. Overweight and bullied, he had been withdrawn from Plymouth Whitemarsh and was resentful. His MySpace profile lauded the Columbine killers as heroes.The 18- year-old Finnish killer made a rambling testimony on YouTube, clearly drawing on the rhetoric used in the Natural Selection group and related chat rooms. His YouTube account — under the pseudonym Sturmgeist89 — included snippets from violent films, shots of him posing with his “beloved” pistol and tributes to other mass murderers. It was viewed 200,000 times before being closed down after the Finnish high school killings on Wednesday.
Police are trying to establish whether the Jokela massacre was in some way a copycat event or whether it resulted from an exchange of tips across the internet. Across Europe cyber-crime experts are nervous that some of the abuses on the net committed by Islamic fanatics could become a model for other marginalized groups.
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