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Sun, 19 Jun, 2016 12:02:27 AM FTimes-STT-Xinhua Report, June 19  Police officers at the scene of a deadly shooting spot in Vihti late Friday night. Photo – Lehtikuva. One police officer was gunned down and another wounded when an elderly man opened fire at them in the yard of a detached house in Vihti late Friday night.
The alleged shooter was later found dead near the building.
The tragic incident took place at about 9.00pm when the police arrived at the spot following an alarm sent by a neighbour.
Local media quoted neighbours as saying that the alleged shooter was “very temperamental” and had previous encounters with the police.
According to the police, the man shot a neighbour while atop a tractor on the move.
The suspect’s target was his brother’s adult grandson. The brother’s grandson apparently has a restraining order against the suspect. The grandson was not injured in the shooting.
A nearby resident reported that he heard a series of gunshots. Neighbours reported that the last shot came from a pistol.
National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen and two top police officials at a press conference on Saturday. Photo – Lehtikuva. The police entered the scene with torches.
The crime scene is located in a rural location with a sparse population. Behind the house of the 67-year-old suspect is a small patch of forest. In the yard next to the road is an old storage building and a small corral, where two sheep wandered on Saturday.
A resident of the neighbourhood told the news agency STT that the suspect used to shoot a gun in his yard nearly every evening at around 6.00pm.
The man’s neighbour reported hearing gunshots in the evening of the incident but believed that the suspect was shooting birds in his yard.
The suspect was sought for several hours, and the police tried to contact him several times. His body was recovered from a nearby place at the end of the gun battle.
Both the dead and the wounded police officers were male and about 30 years old.
“The conditions were challenging. It was dark, raining, and all the lights were off in the house,” Western Uusimaa Police Department Superintendent Pekka Penttilä told a press conference on Saturday.
The loss of life of a police officer on duty is rare in Finland. The fatality triggered statements from leading politicians.
President Sauli Niinistö said violence against police is an attack against the whole society.
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| Saturday, 20 April, 2024 |
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