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Gunman opens fire at school in Finland, 9 dead
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-23 20:10
Finnish authorities did not confirm exactly what YouTube clips were linked to the shooter. But in one YouTube clip, a young man wearing a leather jacket fires several shots in rapid succession with a handgun at what appears to be a shooting range. The posting was made five days before the shooting and the location was given as Kauhajoki -- the same town as Tuesday's shooting. The posting included a message saying: "Whole life is war and whole life is pain. And you will fight alone in your personal war." The person who posted the clip identified himself as a 22-year-old with the name "Mr. Saari." He also posted three other clips of himself firing a handgun in the past three weeks. Clips from the 1999 Columbine school shootings in Colorado were listed among his favorite videos. Last November, another gunman killed eight people and himself at a school in southern Finland, an attack that triggered a fierce debate about gun laws in this Nordic nation with deep-rooted hunting traditions in the sub-Arctic wilderness. Pekka-Eric Auvinen, described by police as a bullied 18-year-old outcast, opened fire at his high school in southern Finland on Nov. 7, killing six students, a school nurse and the principal before ending his own life. Finnish investigators have said Auvinen left a suicide note for his family and foreshadowed his attack in YouTube postings. With 1.6 million firearms in private hands, Finland is an anomaly in Europe, lagging behind only the United States and Yemen in civilian gun ownership, studies show. After Auvinen's rampage, the government said it would raise the minimum age for buying guns from 15 to 18, but insisted there was no need for sweeping changes to Finland's gun laws. |
