10 dead in Finland school shootout

A masked gunman whose violent YouTube postings prompted police to bring him in for questioning opened fire on Tuesday at his trade school in Western Finlandkilling nine people before shooting himself in the head.

Witnesses said panic broke out as the gunman entered the Kauhajoki School of Hospitality, 180 miles northwest of Helsinki, and began firing in a classroom where students were taking an exam. The gunman had been questioned by police on Monday about YouTube postings in which he is seen firing a handgun, but released because there were no legal grounds to detain him. It was Finland’s second school massacre in less than a year. Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat said police identified the gunman as Matti Juhani Saari, a 22-year-old student. Authorities would only confirm that he was a student at the school.

“We have experienced a tragic day,” Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said as he expressed condolences to thevictims’ families and declared Wednesday a day of mourning. Tuesday’s rampage happened almost a year after another gunman killed eight people and himself at a school in southern Finland. Finnish authorities did not confirm exactly what YouTube clips were linked to the shooter. However, Finnish media reported that 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.With 1.6 million firearms in private hands, Finland is third after the US and Yemen in civilian gun ownership, studies show.