Hyvinkää shooting

The Hyvinkää shooting occurred on May 26, 2012 in the Finnish town of Hyvinkää when 18-year-old Eero Samuli Hiltunen (b. June 19, 1993) shot dead two people and seriously wounded another eight people with a .22-caliber rifle and a .308-caliber scoped bolt-action hunting rifle.^[2]

Details

Around 1:53 a.m., a gunman wearing camouflage clothing opened fire from a low rooftop, aiming at people gathered outside a restaurant. An 18-year-old woman died at the scene, while a 19-year-old man later died in a local hospital; both were students at the Hyria Vocational Institute.^[3] Eight other were wounded, including a female police officer who responded to the emergency call.^[1] The male victim Topi Koistinen (b. 1993), was a pesäpallo player of the Finnish premier division side Hyvinkään Tahko. Two other Tahko players were wounded.^[4] The wouded police officer was Heidi Foxell, a 24-year-old goalkeeper of the HJK Helsinki women's football squad.^[5]

Some five hours after the shooting, authorities arrested the gunman, identified as 18-year-old Eero Samuli Hiltunen, who had no criminal background and was believed to have acted alone. According to the regional chief inspector, Hiltunen did not resist arrest,^[1] and didn't have a gun license.^[6] The only motive given by the gunman was that he lost an impromptu "wrestling match" on the way to a bar with four other men.^[7] The gunman had been in psychiatric treatment earlier. Nevertheless, he was found competent to stand trial in a psychiatric evaluation. On February 28, 2013, Hiltunen was sentenced to life imprisonment for the shootings.

Reactions

Finland's President Sauli Niinistö expressed condolences to the family members of the victims.^[2] The Finnish pesäpallo league Superpesis cancelled matches of the weekend and the women's football league Naisten Liiga changed its schedule.

References