Man slays ex-girlfriend, guns down 4 others at Finnish mall
Source: Agencies |
January 1, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A GUNMAN clad in black went on a shooting rampage yesterday, killing his ex-girlfriend then slaying four workers at a suburban shopping mall near Helsinki, Finland, before turning his gun on himself, police said.
Finnish police said one woman and three men were shot dead yesterday morning at the Sello shopping mall in Espoo, 10 kilometers west of Helsinki.
The gunman was identified as 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli, an immigrant who had been living for several years in Finland, police superintendent Jukka Kaski said, adding that the weapon used was an unlicensed handgun.
Kaski said Shkupolli killed his ex-girlfriend in a nearby apartment before heading to the mall.
The ex-girlfriend, a Finnish woman born in 1967, worked at the mall and had taken out a restraining order against Shkupolli, Kaski said.
Witnesses said panic erupted at the mall, one of the Nordic region's largest, when the shots rang out. Hundreds of mall workers were evacuated to a nearby library and firehouse, trains were halted and helicopters brought in as police launched a manhunt for the heavily armed killer.
After several hours, a body was found in Shkupolli's home, which police said was the killer himself.
Kaski refused to confirm the exact identity immediately, but confirmed that Shkupolli shot himself.
Speaking at a news conference, Kaski also refused to discuss Shkupolli's nationality, but Finnish media reported he was an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo.
He refused to say whether the four killed at the mall had been targeted by Shkupolli.
The midmorning slayings shocked hundreds of people who had gone shopping early on New Year's Eve.
One witness told the state broadcaster YLE that a gunman dressed in black began randomly shooting at people on the second floor of the mall.
"There were loads of people who were crying, and many vendors who were completely panicked," the unnamed witness said.
Another female witness told YLE radio news she saw the suspect carrying a long-barreled pistol and rushing past the cashier line at Sello's Prisma supermarket, where the slayings took place.
Finnish police said one woman and three men were shot dead yesterday morning at the Sello shopping mall in Espoo, 10 kilometers west of Helsinki.
The gunman was identified as 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli, an immigrant who had been living for several years in Finland, police superintendent Jukka Kaski said, adding that the weapon used was an unlicensed handgun.
Kaski said Shkupolli killed his ex-girlfriend in a nearby apartment before heading to the mall.
The ex-girlfriend, a Finnish woman born in 1967, worked at the mall and had taken out a restraining order against Shkupolli, Kaski said.
Witnesses said panic erupted at the mall, one of the Nordic region's largest, when the shots rang out. Hundreds of mall workers were evacuated to a nearby library and firehouse, trains were halted and helicopters brought in as police launched a manhunt for the heavily armed killer.
After several hours, a body was found in Shkupolli's home, which police said was the killer himself.
Kaski refused to confirm the exact identity immediately, but confirmed that Shkupolli shot himself.
Speaking at a news conference, Kaski also refused to discuss Shkupolli's nationality, but Finnish media reported he was an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo.
He refused to say whether the four killed at the mall had been targeted by Shkupolli.
The midmorning slayings shocked hundreds of people who had gone shopping early on New Year's Eve.
One witness told the state broadcaster YLE that a gunman dressed in black began randomly shooting at people on the second floor of the mall.
"There were loads of people who were crying, and many vendors who were completely panicked," the unnamed witness said.
Another female witness told YLE radio news she saw the suspect carrying a long-barreled pistol and rushing past the cashier line at Sello's Prisma supermarket, where the slayings took place.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
