First School Shooting In Finland

There was an American-style school shooting in Finland today. (I guess we can call it Seven Eleven shootings from now on.) This is the first (and hopefully last) of its kind. (I think there was an incident couple of decades ago when someone shot couple of bullies in one school, but that wasn't random madness.) I guess one of the safest countries in the world is no longer that safe. Pekka-Eric Auvinen took his Charlene (the same idea as in the movie Full Metal Jacket) a Sig Sauer .22 Mosquito pistol (same model than in Columbine) to school.

This guy had some issues. It's weird his parents didn't notice it. He was writing about this massacre weeks in advance on forums, his blog, his Youtube account etc. Unfortunately only preparing a crime is not illegal in Finland, excluding preparations for terrorist attack or illegal surveillance. In this modern world, where mothers carrying their babies and breast-milk bottles are suspected terrorist, how come planning a mass-murder in school can't be counted as an act of terrorism? Especially when he said "Attack Type: Mass murder, political terrorism (altough I choosed the school as target, my motives for the attack are political and much much deeper and therefore I don’t want this to be called only as “school shooting”)." - ...So why they couldn't stop him in advance?

All his .doc files are titled: "Hate, I'm so full of it, and I love it." Sick puppy. OK, I understand that every teenager is frustrated.

When you are a teenager you are always right, and you will never be so right in your life. (My dad used to say that to me when I was a teenager, and I didn't really understand it then...) Every teenager goes through a period of healthy angstic misantrophy, but there's a fine line between that and a sic fixation on murder and death.

This guy was extremely fixated on violence, especially mass- and serial killers. He especially endorsed Columbine shooting, but other school shootings as well. "A child is healthy when he's playing, sick when he can't stop." His teachers have been saying in the media that he was "above the average student", "extremely bright" but "had interest in far-right and far-left movements". Far-left and far-right? What does this mean? He liked violence in general?

His rantings over the internet also express his hatred towards democracy and totalitarian regimes, his love for freedom and dreams of ruling class who decide over the "weak" majority of people is, to me, an indication that he actually needed to think his opinions and world view much more.

Majority of his writings were self-contradicting and full of repetition. Fancy words put together to sound intelligent. Train of thoughts if you will.

I read political texts/writings/books, and follow news around the world, I understand some of the reasons he explains why he was bitter. But violence on grass-root level is never a solution. It won't make a difference. Unfortunately government-level violence has been, is and will be a solution to many problems. He boasted about his self-awareness. Yet he didn't stop to think what this will do. If any changes are done, they don't change the system. Well, system, kinda yes. School system if any. And how we go to school. Current administration in the world doesn't believe in educating and guiding people. Instead they make rules, laws and force people to behave. The only difference what I can think of now is the school is going to be much more tough on other pupils in Finnish schools. This kind of "political terrorist attack" was only counter-productive for what he claimed to believe in.

He tried to shoot himself in the head at the end. Should've started from that. I believe if someone doesn't like this world, he or she has all the rights in the world to end it. I am not against suicide. If you don't want to be here, I think it's wrong if we force you to be here. Yet, the only time I accept killing another person is if the person is posing an immediate threat to your life and cannot be stopped otherwise. Who made him the "Natural Selector"? If you're sick of the society, move to Lapland and start herding reindeer. There are other options. "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried." Yep, that's where we live. Democracy. Don't like it? Change the system from within the system. Can't? Move away from the country/society you don't like. Can't be bothered to? Then stop complaining and bite the bullet! (Figuratively speaking.)

Other thing I noticed in his Youtube videos and his writings was his hatred towards anti-depressants. Perhaps he suffered from some sort of mental disorder he had to use pills for? In some cases wrong medication only makes things worse. "When nothing matters, and nothing feels like anything." In Finland we don't try to prevent nor cure burn-outs or manic-depressive behaviour. Instead we like to give medicine to suppress the symptoms. Maybe he was suffering from mental illness? (Well, d'uh, but as in mental illness like borderline disorder or manic-depressive...)

Today is also the day when Russia celebrates the 90th anniversary of the October Revolution.

Scary thing was his love/hate list. I feel kinda the same way in most parts. I have similar interests... Bad humour is the best humour, etc. Also, his list of favourite books is almost identical to mine... Should I be scared of myself now? (Don't worry, I don't believe in violence. I won't be shooting you.)

I wonder how his blues-guitarist dad, and the rest of the family* take this... Although correcting a lost child should be firstly done by the parents, I still hope they have the strength to get over this.

And I have to give thanks and praises to the police who acted quite quickly with the Karhu-team (Bear-team, equivalent of S.W.A.T.) and around 100 police officers in total. For the medical staff working there. The local hospital had within an hour from the information of the fist gun blast 18 operation rooms ready and a battalion of ambulances at the school, and for the rapid evacuation of the neighbourhood.

More in the net: BBC LiveLeak
I won't be posting his dads web page nor his own writings due to respect for his parents. But they're not difficult to find if you really want to.

Addition @ 21:51 CET: The 18-year old shooter died in the hospital. According to Helsingin Sanomat he died in the hospital 22:14 CET+1, that's half an hour ago. The casualties are 5 boys, 2 girls and the Principal of the School.

* @ 8/11 - Too much info edited out as irrelevant.