Pennsylvania in October of 2006, and the Virginia Tech shooting in April of 2007, yet again there has been a deadly shooting at a school.
This time in southern Finland at Jokela High School on November 7, 2007. The gunman has been identified as Pekka-Eric Auvinen, an 18 year-old student at the school. The gunman, who had no prior criminal record, purchased the gun less than a month before the shooting. Pekka-Eric Auvinen took the lives of seven students and the principal of the school before shooting himself in the head.
He had posted a Youtube video of his plan, giving an eerie resemblance to the Virginia Tech shooting this past year. In the video, which has been removed from Youtube, he shows off his gun and called himself a "social Darwinist". Under the screen name, Sturmgeist, which means storm spirit in German, he explained that "death and killing is not a tragedy... Not all human lives are important or worth saving."
What drives these people to commit such awful acts?
Is there anyway to prevent this from happening in the future? Can the authorities possibly predict this behavior?
Information from http://news.bbc.co.uk/ and a French news broadcast.
9 comments:
That really is tragic, but I do believe there is a way to prevent crimes of this nature in the future. As you mentioned, this shooting had some striking similarities to the VT shooting. Both shooters had violent and crazy behaviors/mentalities which could've been noticed by their peers. Also, both shooters made youtube videos of their plans which could've been a significant foreshadowing of what they were going to do. In the future, people could report videos of that sort to authorities, leading to investigation, hopefully preventing the person from taking violent action. I'm not sure if that's legal or violates some sort of constitutional right, but as the saying goes, "better safe than sorry".
All I can say is that this is horrible and what makes it worse it that he did reveal signs of his intentions and yet the evetn still occured. ALso, the fact that he tries to justify his actions is just gross. These shootings must be prevented and we have to be careful in taking necissary precautions.
This story is horrible. After so many tragedies similar to this, it is hard to hear it has happened again. I think events like this, however, can be prevented. The majority of the killers in school shootings have let their intentions out in some way. People have to begin to be more responsive to these threats. This is also another reminder of the ease of purchasing weapons. Although this did not occur in the U.S., it serves as a reminder of the dangers of lax gun control.
I agree w/ Dana. If someone is crazy and wants to kill people, it's a lot easier when one can easily purchase a gun, or get someone to.
I disagree that gun control laws would change anything. If a person is really determined to kill, he will find a way around it.
I searched on BBC to find more information on this story and there's an interesting video there following up on this incident. The government of Finland is planning to raise the gun ownership from 15 to 18 of age, but children from 15 to 18 of age may carry a gun if they have parental consent. And also, hunting is an integral part of Finland's culture. William Wadstein, a gun shop owner, state that "Almost every Finish family has a hunting gun at home. We have gone through many wars. We are used to seeing gun. We all know, since small children... we have been grown up that they are no toys. Guns are very, very dangerous things. They are used for hunting, not for murdering."
Furthermore, an article state that "Gun ownership per capita in Finland is the third highest in the world, although incidents of this kind are extremely rare in a country that prides itself on very low levels of violent crime."
I think that it is more important to look at the person's situation and background instead of changing polices that affects a group. According to this article, "Det Haapala described the young man as a "lonely rider" who had been bullied by other students at the secondary school, which has 400 pupils between 12 and 18."
even though people may blame lax gun control for school shootings, I think the people who do these school shootings are very intent on doing it and put a lot of planning into it, thus, whether or not we have more stringent gun control laws or not, the person will get a gun by whatever means necessary (through some one else or illegally). Instead of worrying about gun control laws I think it is more important to worry about the mental health of students and students themselves should take the initiative to be more alert and wary of their peers that suggest they are going to commit a crime/shooting. If a student a video online or any hints of violence they should take it seriously and report it.
I completely agree with everyone on the fact that this is a terrible occurence. It's even more awful because it could have been avoided. Maybe some people think it's just a joke if someone posts a rant that they're going to shoot people, but still the viewers should take some initiative to inform some authorities like Marc said.
You can not control some peoples actions. But it is absurd that youtube allowed a posting of the kid first. That is how we can stop these acts. Every time, the individuals tell at least someone their plans, what is sick is that the people who know that there might be a tragic incident don't speak up. Youtube should be fined in my opinion, they need to review what they allow on their website in my opinion.
i think that it could have possibly been prevented, but you shouldn't blame the people who had any evidence of something going on. Some people aren't emotionally stable enough to handle the responsibility of knowing the plot and spwaking out about it. It's sad, and kind of pessimistic, but i believe that the event would more likely happen than not bc there are more people who cant handle the info than people that can and would tell an official. I know i would freak. Some people go into a state of disillusioned shock, like the idea is unbelievable and nothing will actually happen. I also think stricter gun control laws couldnt prevent something like this. There are other ways to kill, some even worse. Also, people want what they cant have and stricter laws would just make people that much more eager to have the gun power.
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