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Re: Second school massacre in Finland - within a year
At least seven people were killed Tuesday when a man opened fire at a college in southwestern Finland, a local fire official told CNN.
The shooter then tried to kill himself but was not successful, the official, Olle Peauttonen, said.
Several other people were wounded in the attack, Jarkko Sipila of MTV 3 told CNN.
Earlier reports from the state media had said the man, a student at the school, committed suicide after the shooting.
But Mikka Pettersson of the Finnish News Agency (STT) said the shooter had a gunshot wound to the head but survived.
The shots were reported at a college for home- and institutional-economics in the municipality of Kauhajoki, according to YLE, a Finnish national broadcaster. Video Watch more about the shooting »
Three hours after the shooting, firefighters were trying to bring a blaze at the school building under control, Peauttonen said.
Police held a news conference but did not say exactly how many people died in the attack.
The shooter was a 22-year-old student at the school, YLE said. He was spotted moving about the school shortly before the shooting started at 11 a.m., the broadcaster reported, according the Finnish News Agency (STT).
Smoke was billowing from the school Tuesday afternoon, the news agency said.
Jukka Forsberg, a maintenance worker at the school, told YLE that several people were injured. The worker said a man with a ski mask went into the building with a large bag. Soon after, the worker heard shots fired.
The school taught late teens and young adults, Sipila said. "It's more or less like an agricultural or professional school where people teach how to make food or how to cook in big kitchen, in industrial kitchens," he said.
Meanwhile, speculation surrounded a video on Web site YouTube, which appeared to show a man from the town of Kauhajoki firing a pistol at a shooting range. It was eventually withdrawn from the site.
Kauhajoki, with a population of about 15,000, is about 290km (180 miles) from the capital, Helsinki.
The incident comes almost a year after another school shooting left nine people, including the gunman, dead in the Finnish town of Tuusala.
Before that shooting, the gunman, 18-year-old student Pekka-Eric Auvinen, posted a video on YouTube titled "Jokela High School Massacre 11/7/2007" -- identifying the date and location of the attack.
"All these memories are being brought back and people are asking the question, 'Why again'?" Sipila said.
Finland enjoys a strong tradition of hunting and has a high proportion of gun ownership, with 2 million firearms owned in a nation of 5 million people.
- Randall Flagg
- Rep: 139
Re: Second school massacre in Finland - within a year
I'm always sad to hear when a tragedy like this strikes. I just hope the people in Finland don't have an emotional, reactionary response and try to ban private ownership of firearms because one indiviudal chose to break the law.
I hope those affected by this are okay.
Re: Second school massacre in Finland - within a year
My stateside friend just e-mailed me this morning, saying something in the lines of 'glad to see you keeping up with the Americans!'
Private ownership? Nah, hunting rifles and shotguns seem to go unscathed in the debate that's currently going on. They're looking into private handguns, which are deceptively easy to get.
Ironically, the shooter was met by the police this past Monday to discuss his Youtube videos, which heavily remind those of Pekka-Eric Auvinen. His firearm license, however, went unrevoked.
Both shooters came from a background of desolation and schoolyard bullying, which is something that, unfortunately, doesn't seem to belong into the debate at all.
Personally I wouldn't mind a tighter firearm legislation, and that opinion has nothing to do with these tragedies.
Re: Second school massacre in Finland - within a year
Hand guns are the essence of the right to own and bear protection. You gonna trust the police to help you out? Their job is primarily to solve the crime, and scare you into not committing one yourself, but they are very likely to not be there as it is actually happening.
Sadly a lot of guns and poverty don't go to well together, but lets attack the cause, not the effect.
Re: Second school massacre in Finland - within a year
In Finland, I've never needed a handgun or wished to have one, and believe me, I've done my time on the fringes of society. I don't trust the police, I trust in my own judgment to be able to select my company and act accordingly.
You'll way to go way deep to meet civilians who carry handguns with them every day in this country. Most of those people will get them regardless of the regulation, and hardly ever pull them on the common folk. It's not hard to stay away from those circles if you have any semblance of normality in your life.
Both shooters were common people under significant stress, which is why gun control is good. It doesn't remove the problems which led to the tragedies, but in my book, getting a gun in this country is way too easy.
Guns don't kill people, people do - whatever. Gun control and mental health of the young go hand in hand in alleviating the problem, because I'm personally more frightful about the average joe who's armed and doesn't completely realize the consequences of his actions, than criminals who appreciate the fact that killing someone with no real reason may lead to a whole lot of unnecessary jailtime.
