At least one dead in school shooting in Jokela, near Helsinki, Finland; police confirm that gunman is caught. Suspected gunman "acted strange in recent days."
At least one person was killed and at least three others were seriously injured in a shooting incident at a school in Jokela in the municipality of Tuusula north of Helsinki on Wednesday.
The shooter at the Jokela School Centre was arrested after a siege situation. He ws said to be a pupil at the school who had just turned 18. He shot at least four people with a handgun, and at least one of the victims was killed. There were initial unconfirmed reports of at least two other deaths. Pupils say that the gunman was not from the school, but this could not be immediately verified.
Pupils were evacuated to the nearby Pertu School and Jokela Church, using an armoured vehicle.
The gunman was seen by local resident Anna-Liisa Vainio, who was coming to the school to meet with her daughter's teacher.
She said that she saw four pupils lying on the floor of the corridor. At first she thought that some kind of a rescue drill was going on, and then she saw the shooter with a gun in his hand.
Tuomas Hulkkonen, a member of the graduating class of the upper secondary school, says that he has known the gunman for ten years since the lower grades. Hulkkonen says that in recent days he had started acting strange, drawing pictures involving firearms. When asked about it, he said that he was joking. He also said that the suspected gunman had shooting as a hobby.
Hulkkonen says that he last spoke to the suspect on Tuesday. "Pretty hard to digest this equation, when a guy you know does something like this."
The Jokela School Centre at Jyväkuja 13 has an upper-level comprehensive school and an upper level secondary school. Last year the two schools had a combined 480 pupils.
A crisis centre has been set up to relay news to parents, who are asked to call 09-4172131 for more information.
The Finnish Red Cross has also set up a hotline for those needing help in dealing with the crisis. The telephone number is 020366266.
Neither of the numbers should be considered sources for those following news developments in the case.
The government has convened over the shooting, and is scheduled to hold a press conference on the event later in the evening. - Source: Helsingin Sanomat
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#1 Finland School Shooting
Russian sources are saying that ther person who did all of this already died in the hospital.
#2 8 killed during the
8 killed during the shooting, the shooter died later. Total number of victims 9.
The schools headmaster, 5 boys, 2 girls and the shooter himself.