Nine die in Finland school massacre

A GUNMAN, who killed at least eight people in a school shooting rampage, died last night.

Hours before the attack, he posted a video on YouTube threatening a massacre at the school in Finland.

Seven of the dead were children — five boys and two girls.

The principal also died as Pekka-Eric Auvinen, 18, walked through the corridors of Jokela High School firing into classroom after classroom with a .22-calibre handgun.

About a dozen people were wounded.

Auvinen was taken to hospital with no brain function after shooting himself in the head, officials said.

He later died in hospital.

“Five boys, two girls and one adult woman were killed,” said police chief Matti Tohkanen.

He later identified the woman as the principal of the school in Tuusula municipality, a town of 35,000 about 60km from Helsinki.

The YouTube video, set to a hard-driving song called Stray Bullet by the industrial rock band KMFDM, shows a still photo of a low building that appears to be Jokela High School.

The photo breaks apart to reveal a red-tinted picture of a man pointing a handgun at the camera.

“He [the gunman] was moving systematically through the school hallways, knocking on the doors and shooting through the doors,” said Kim Kiuru, who was teaching a class of 13- and 14-year-olds when the shooting began.

“It felt unreal, a pupil I have taught myself was running towards me, screaming, a pistol in his hand.”

He said the gunman had been keenly interested in war history and extremist movements.

Police said he came from “a normal family” and had a father, mother and one brother.

The weapon used in the massacre was held legally and Auvinen had obtained a permit for it three weeks ago through a gun club, police said.

The YouTube video, entitled Jokela High School Massacre — 11/7/2007, was posted Tuesday by a user called Sturmgeist89.

“Sturmgeist” means storm spirit in German. Hours after the massacre, the user’s account was suspended.

Lyrics to various KMFDM songs, including Stray Bullet, were also posted on a website maintained by Eric Harris, one of the gunmen in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

KMFDM’s record company said it was “extremely saddened” by the news.

Jokela High School serves about 500 students.

The last big attack in Finland occurred in 2002 when a young man killed himself and six others in a bomb blast at a shopping centre in Helsinki.