Finnish Officer, Gunman Killed in Shootout
Source Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)
VIHTI, FINLAND -- A Finnish police officer was shot and killed and another was wounded in a shootout north-west of the capital Helsinki where a gunman also died, authorities said Saturday.
Police were alerted late Friday to a sparsely populated area in the municipality of Vihti, about 50 kilometres from Helsinki, after shots were heard, police spokesman Petri Launiainen told public broadcaster YLE.
The gunman, who was not identified, opened fire when police officers were cordoning off the location.
Police returned fire, but it was not clear if he was shot by police or turned his weapon on himself.
President Sauli Niinisto, Prime Minister Juha Sipila and Interior Minister Petteri Oropo expressed shock and their condolences.
Police fatalities in the line of duty are rare in Finland.
In 2007, a police officer died after being deliberately runover, and in 1997, an escaped inmate shot two police officers to death in Helsinki.
Friends of the gunman were quoted as telling tabloid Iltalehti that he bore a grudge against authorities over financial difficulties after being ordered to pay arrears.
Copyright 2016 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)
Tribune News Service
