Four killed in shop gun attack

Dec 31 2009

A rampaging gunman has killed four people at a shopping centre in Finland.

The man dressed in black began randomly shooting at people on the second floor of the Sello shopping centre in Espoo, the country's second largest city.

A witness told Finnish radio that a panic ensued as the shooting began. "There were loads of people who were crying, and many vendors who were completely panicked," the unnamed witness said.

"It seems like they hadn't caught the one who shot," the witness said. "No one seemed to know what had happened."

The Sello shopping centre describes itself as one of the Nordic region's largest with more than 170 shops. It opened in 2005.

Finland, a nation of 5.3 million, has 1.6 million firearms in private hands and ranks among the top five nations in the world in civilian gun ownership.

Politicians, social workers and religious leaders have urged tighter gun laws, more vigilance of internet sites, and more social bonding in Finland which is known for its high suicide rates, heavy drinking and domestic violence.

In September 2008, a lone gunman killed nine fellow students and a teacher at a vocational college before shooting himself in the western town of Kauhajoki, and in November 2007, an 18-year-old student fatally shot eight people and himself at a high school in southern Finland.

Both young men fired guns in YouTube clips posted before the shootings, shot themselves in the head and used .22-calibre handguns bought from the same store.