lupa
31-12-2009, 11:18 AM
Reports coming in on bbc news24 that a gun man has opened fire in a mall killing four people, police say gunman is still on the loose.
The scene of the shooting
Four people have been killed by a gunman at a shopping centre in the southern Finnish city of Espoo, near the capital Helsinki, police have said.
A man dressed in black shot dead the three men and a woman with a 9mm pistol at a grocery store in the Sello centre, according to the state broadcaster YLE.
Police said the gunman was born in 1966 and had a criminal record. They are still searching for him in the area.
The incident is Finland's third major shooting in the past two years.
Thursday's bloodshed reportedly broke out at about 1020 local time (0820 GMT) inside the Prisma grocery store, on the second floor.
My parents were just going up the escalator from the first floor when police started shouting at them to get out of the building
Antti
BBC reader, Espoo
A witness told YLE that the gunman appeared to have opened fire at random and that at least one employee was left lying on the floor afterwards.
The Ilta-Sanomat newspaper said one man was shot twice in the head and a woman in the stomach. It is not known if they were among the dead.
Another witness said chaos had ensued after the first shots were heard.
"There were loads of people who were crying, and many vendors who were completely panicked," the witness told Finnish radio.
The gunman was later seen walking towards another shop.
Map
Local police chief Jyrkky Kallio told the AFP news agency that officers knew the identity of the 43-year-old attacker, but not his whereabouts. He also said they did not know whether there were any other casualties.
The shopping centre has been evacuated and cordoned off and police and trains are not stopping at the local railway station. Several ambulances are outside.
The Sello shopping mall describes itself as one of the region's largest with more than 170 shops. It opened in 2005.
Gun laws tightened
There is a long tradition of hunting in Finland, which has vast areas of forest and wilderness, but until recently gun crime has been rare.
Inside the Sello shopping centre (file)
The Sello shopping mall describes itself as one of the region's largest
But two deadly shootings in recent years focused attention on gun laws in a country where young people were permitted to own and use a firearm at 15 years of age if they had parental consent.
In November 2007, an 18-year-old went on a gun rampage at his school in Tuusula, killing seven pupils and a teacher, before turning the gun on himself. He had posted a video warning of the attack on the internet.
Then, in September 2008, a 22-year-old trainee chef killed 10 people at a college before killing himself.
He, too, had put a video on the internet showing himself shooting a gun. After doing that he was interviewed by police, but they decided it was not sufficient reason to revoke his gun licence.
After the second attack, stricter rules on permits for pistols and revolvers were introduced.
Handgun permits would no longer be granted to first-time applicants, the interior ministry said.
Instead, they must train for at least a year at a gun club before being allowed to apply for a permit.
All applicants must also provide a note from a doctor about their mental health and sit an interview with police.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8435857.stm
The scene of the shooting
Four people have been killed by a gunman at a shopping centre in the southern Finnish city of Espoo, near the capital Helsinki, police have said.
A man dressed in black shot dead the three men and a woman with a 9mm pistol at a grocery store in the Sello centre, according to the state broadcaster YLE.
Police said the gunman was born in 1966 and had a criminal record. They are still searching for him in the area.
The incident is Finland's third major shooting in the past two years.
Thursday's bloodshed reportedly broke out at about 1020 local time (0820 GMT) inside the Prisma grocery store, on the second floor.
My parents were just going up the escalator from the first floor when police started shouting at them to get out of the building
Antti
BBC reader, Espoo
A witness told YLE that the gunman appeared to have opened fire at random and that at least one employee was left lying on the floor afterwards.
The Ilta-Sanomat newspaper said one man was shot twice in the head and a woman in the stomach. It is not known if they were among the dead.
Another witness said chaos had ensued after the first shots were heard.
"There were loads of people who were crying, and many vendors who were completely panicked," the witness told Finnish radio.
The gunman was later seen walking towards another shop.
Map
Local police chief Jyrkky Kallio told the AFP news agency that officers knew the identity of the 43-year-old attacker, but not his whereabouts. He also said they did not know whether there were any other casualties.
The shopping centre has been evacuated and cordoned off and police and trains are not stopping at the local railway station. Several ambulances are outside.
The Sello shopping mall describes itself as one of the region's largest with more than 170 shops. It opened in 2005.
Gun laws tightened
There is a long tradition of hunting in Finland, which has vast areas of forest and wilderness, but until recently gun crime has been rare.
Inside the Sello shopping centre (file)
The Sello shopping mall describes itself as one of the region's largest
But two deadly shootings in recent years focused attention on gun laws in a country where young people were permitted to own and use a firearm at 15 years of age if they had parental consent.
In November 2007, an 18-year-old went on a gun rampage at his school in Tuusula, killing seven pupils and a teacher, before turning the gun on himself. He had posted a video warning of the attack on the internet.
Then, in September 2008, a 22-year-old trainee chef killed 10 people at a college before killing himself.
He, too, had put a video on the internet showing himself shooting a gun. After doing that he was interviewed by police, but they decided it was not sufficient reason to revoke his gun licence.
After the second attack, stricter rules on permits for pistols and revolvers were introduced.
Handgun permits would no longer be granted to first-time applicants, the interior ministry said.
Instead, they must train for at least a year at a gun club before being allowed to apply for a permit.
All applicants must also provide a note from a doctor about their mental health and sit an interview with police.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8435857.stm