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Crime

Politician, two journalists dead in Finnish town shooting

December 4, 2016

Three women - a local politician and two journalists - have been shot dead with a rifle in front of a restaurant in the small Finnish town of Imatra. The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.

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Finnish police outside restaurant
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Finnish police confirmed on Sunday that a local town councillor and two journalists were shot dead as they left a restaurant in Imatra on Saturday night. The small southeastern town lies a few kilometers from the Russian border.

According to investigators, the three women were killed by a man with a rifle and may have been targeted at random. The victims were shot multiple times in the head and torso.

One of the victims was later identifed as Tiina Wilen-Jappinen, the local council's Social-Democrat leader who was in her early 50s. The names of the two journalists, one of whom was of a similar age, while the second who was in her mid-30s, were not disclosed.

Map showing location of shootingin Imatra, Finland

A 23-year-old man who did not resist his arrest was detained and interrogated on Sunday. There was no initial indication that the triple murder was "linked to political issues or extremism", police said, adding that they were not looking for any other suspects. 

The gun belonged to an unidentified third person who had a hunting licence, suggesting that the inquiry would seek to establish how it was in the suspect's possession.

In Finland, a country of 5.4 million people with strong hunting traditions, there are 650,000 officially recognized gun owners - although homicides with guns are unusual. However after two fatal school shootings in 2007 and 2008, gun laws have been tightened.

ksb/rc (AFP, AP, dpa)