Thursday, December 31, 2009

ANOTHER MASSACRE in gun-free Europe:
A gunman killed four people early Thursday in a shooting rampage at a mall in Finland's second largest city, police said.

It was not clear whether the shooter in Espoo had been apprehended and some reports indicated he was still on the loose. State broadcaster Yle reported that the gunman was born in 1966 and was previously known to police.


Police told Yle that three men and one woman were killed in the shopping center.


A witness told the broadcaster that a man dressed in black began randomly shooting at people on the second floor of the Sello mall.

According to the AP, the suspect has been ID'ed:
Police identified the shooter as 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli and said that he was still on the loose. The shooter's nationality is unclear.
The last name does sound Finnish; I wouldn't want to jump to conclusions, but the first name sounds like this may be more than just one of those random incidents in which one weirdo gets a gun and starts shooting people. Not necessarily, but I assume we'll know more soon.

UPDATE. So it seems likely he was a weirdo after all:
Police have found the body of the ex-wife of the gunman who killed at least four people in a shopping centre in the Finnish city of Espoo near Helsinki Thursday.

The woman's body was found in a private home in Espoo.

UPDATE II. Here's the guy:




UPDATE III. He's been now found dead.

UPDATE IV. Not so gun-free, according to an Instapundit correspondent who says there's less restrictions in Finland than the rest of Europe. They still seem pretty strict compared to the US, and likely going to be stricter after this and other relatively recent killing sprees in the country.

UPDATE V. More on Shkupolli's background, here.