9 Dead In Finland School Shooting

YouTube videos show Saari firing at range

(NEWSER) - Finnish police yesterday arrested—and subsequently released—the 20-year-old they say killed 11 people, including himself, during a school shooting spree this morning, reports the Daily Telegraph. Authorities acted after finding a YouTube video of Matti Juhani Saari firing a handgun at a shooting range, and this posted message: "Whole life is war and whole life is pain. And you will fight alone in your personal war." More»

'He really went out with the intention of killing,' official says

(NEWSER) - Eight of the 10 victims in yesterday's shooting at a Finnish catering and tourism college were women, but it may take investigators weeks to identify the bodies—which Matti Saari charred with gasoline bombs after shooting, the Times of London reports. A college official described Saari as a “silent young man,” and investigators told the AP that the trainee chef probably knew his victims. More»

(NEWSER) - Responding to a grieving Finland, the country's prime minister called for stricter gun laws in the wake of yesterday's school shooting. Matti Vanhanen questioned the legality of private handgun ownership, calling guns more fit for shooting ranges. It may be a difficult case to make in a country with 1.6 million private firearms and where 15-year-olds can own guns, reports the BBC. More»

Honor student's behavior 'somewhat erratic' before shooting

(NEWSER) - The gunman who killed five and wounded 15 in a Northern Illinois University lecture hall yesterday was identified this morning as Steven Kazmierczak, an ex-NIU grad student who had won top sociology department honors, the Chicago Tribune reports. "There were no red flags," said the campus police chief. But police said this morning he had recently stopped taking regular medication and had been behaving erratically. More»

Details on massacre emerge as victims fight to survive

(NEWSER) - A sixth victim of the gunman who opened fire in an Illinois college classroom yesterday has died and at least four more remain in critical condition. The assailant, a former grad student at Northern Illinois University, entered through a door to the right of the lecture stage and silently started shooting. He fired a shotgun at the more than 100 students in Geology 104, then shot and wounded the instructor with a handgun, and then shot himself. More»