There have been reports of shots fired at the vocational education centre campus in Kauhajoki, South Ostrobothnia, Finland. The police reports that a 20-year old student of the college has fired shots and there are casualties. The police are currently evacuating students and staff. Eyewitness reports from the site say that a male student clad in black had fired with a big handgun and that he is still at large in the building, which is on fire.

The Kauhajoki vocational education centre campus has Seinäjoki UAS departments of restaurant and catering as well as Seinäjoki region SEDU vocational school providing a dual degree with a vocational diploma in catering, nursing or tourism as well as an option for joined studies with a high school matriculation diploma, the campus has some 200 students and 30 staff.

UPDATE (from Phil):

News reports are saying the shooter is caught, while others are saying he shot himself. Looks like he’s mimicking the Finnish shooter from last year by posting info on YouTube. Here’s some links, thanks to everyone who’s been sending them in…

His YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/Wumpscut86

A gallery of his photos: http://www.kuvalauta.fi/b/src/122215887655.jpg

His singles profile page: Click here

A collection of files: Click here

UPDATE: ( @13:50 & 14:10 Hank W.)
The police have confirmed the suspected shooter is injured severely and is being transported to the Tampere University Hospital. The police have just confirmed the number of casualities as nine – there are two victims in “critical state” other one being the suspect – the school is still filled with smoke from the fire the police confirm was started deliberately.

The police have stated that the shooter was a man in his 20’s. The principle of the college stated that a 2nd year student of the UAS had entered a classroom in the building where some 20 students were taking an exam and started shooting. The janitor of the school stated a man in a commando hood and carrying a large bag entered the school after he heard shots and was shot at by the suspect.

Meanwhile the press conference at the Seinäjoki Central Hospital came to a dramatic end as the adjacent nursing college was evacuated due to a bomb threat.

UPDATE (@15.17 Hank W.)
The Minister of the Interior Anne Holmlund released during the press conferece of the Cabinet that the suspect, Matti Saari born 1986 had been interviewed on Monday by the police in relation to the shooting videos on YouTube he had placed there on Friday. The police had found no reason to withdraw the permit nor remove the guns from his possession. Minister Holmlund said that this process will be looked into.

UPDATE (@18:20 Hank W.)

Victim toll has risen to 10, also the suspect deceased. One person is still in critical condition, and two others injured. The victims haven’t been identified, and the medical personnell say because some of them are badly burned. The chief medical officer says it mis possible that not all of the victims died of gunshot wounds, but suffocated. Apparently Saari had petrol bombs with him which he used to start a number of fires.

Saw this while driving in Espoo today – I think Otto the bus driver from the Simpsons got way too stoned this time, and took a wrong turn… LOL!!

Finland’s 15-year-olds are incredible! They are really some of the smartest teenagers in the world, and by my observations they are much more open and worldly than their parents who lived under difficult ideology-shaped conditions in the shadow of the Soviet Union. So what makes these kids such academic high achievers?

Having been born Finnish, I like to attribute it to genetics…but when reality descends upon my momentary loftiness, I realize that maybe the cold climate and boring lifestyle is more to credit. It makes studying so much easier than anywhere else. The lack of distractions is actually one of my own favorite reasons for spending time in Finland; I can really get some work done!

Even Finland’s recent mass murderer in Jokela was a studious sort. By now we all know that his readings included Nietzsche, Kant, Huxley… I won’t delve into any dangerous psychological analysis here—some short exposure to Pavlov many-years-ago, and my mouth still waters every time I hear a bell ring.

However, I do find it interesting that another one of his favorites was Plato. In those rare moments when Plato wasn’t pegging young boys in the ass, he was busy arranging the ’state’ into three discernible parts: philosopher-kings, soldiers and merchants. Generally, philosopher-kings rule, soldiers protect, and merchants ensure the economic viability of the state.

You can find Finland’s philosopher-kings in places like Espoo. They are the ruling elite who vacation in sunny locations around the globe (many rule corporations, not the state itself; I don’t think Plato had enough foresight to envision corporations as an extension of the state) and naturally there are plenty of soldiers everywhere, too. But where is the merchant class in Finland?

Of course it exists, but its membership is small. The post-war years saw a rise in collectivist thinking, punishingly-high taxation and socialist economic structures, leading to an environment of discrimination—and possibly even human rights abuses which plague the country to this day. Generally speaking, anyone who aspired to become successful sought safer abode for himself abroad.

It’s a tragedy, because these are precisely the people who would invest their time and talents into productive enterprises, and thereby provide jobs for everyone else. Instead, Finland now has a lackluster and overpriced domestic economy, and is highly dependent on foreign employers. It’s too bad for today’s PISA conquerors. Despite their hard work, when considering purchasing power, they can look forward to being among the lowest-paid smart people in Europe.