School shooting in Kauhajoki, Finland kills eleven
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
At approximately 11:00 a.m. Central European Summer Time, a man in his twenties entered the Kauhajoen koti- ja laitostalousoppilaitos vocational school in Kauhajoki, Finland with a gun and began to open fire, killing 11 people.
The man identified as Matti Juhani Saari, 22, was wearing a mask when he entered the school. Reports say he was a student at the school. The shooting is reported to have occurred in the school's cellar, where students were taking an exam. At least 150 students are reported to have been in the school when the shooting started.
According to superintendent Urpo Lintala, the shooter was apprehended by police, but suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was transported to Tampere central hospital, but later died of his injuries. Police state he made a video of himself shooting a gun and later posted it on YouTube. On Monday after finding the video, authorities questioned him, but no charges were filed due to a lack of evidence.
At approximately the time the shooting started, police say a fire had been started, but was quickly extinguished by firefighters. There have also been reports of a bomb threat to a nearby building.
This is the deadliest school shooting in Finland since November 2007 when eight people were killed at a high school in Jokela.
Related news
- "Deadly shooting at high school in Finland" — Wikinews, November 7, 2007
Sister links
Sources
- Kati Pohjanpalo. "Finnish Student Kills 9 at College, Commits Suicide" — Bloomberg, September 23, 2008
- Lee Glendinning. "Finnish gunman dies in hospital after killing 10 at school" — guardian.co.uk, September 23, 2008
- "Kauhajoen kouluammuskelussa kuollut yhdeksän" — Helsingin Sanomat, September 23, 2008(Finnish)
- "Ainakin yhdeksän kuollut" — Iltalehti, September 23, 2008(Finnish)
- "Kauhajoen ampuja hoitoon Tampereelle" — Helsingin Sanomat, September 23, 2008(Finnish)
- "Kauhajoen tragediassa yhdeksän kuollut, ampuja iski tenttitilaisuuteen, kaupunki järkyttynyt" — YLE, September 23, 2008(Finnish)
- "Finnish school gunman kills nine" — BBC News Online, September 23, 2008
External links
- Wumpscut86 e.g. Matti Saari's Youtube profile page (screenshot) before the account was closed.
- The Video's (mirrored) Matti Saari posted on Youtube before they were deleted.