Death toll from Finland school shooting rises to eight

    HELSINKI, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Eight people have been killed in a school shooting on Wednesday in Finland's southern city of Tuusula, Finnish police confirmed on Wednesday evening.

    Finnish police said at a press conference that the shooter was arrested after a siege.

    The shooting took place in Jokela school in Tuusula, some 50 km north of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Eight people have been killed in the shooting. Among them, one is the schoolmaster, and others are the school pupils. Several more have been injured.

    Police confirmed that the shooter at the Jokela school was arrested after a siege. He was armed with a handgun and hurt himself after the shooting.

    Police said the shooter is an 18-year old high school male. He shot inside the school building and also directed his fire towards police.

    The Jokela school building serves as an upper-level comprehensive school and an upper level secondary school. The two schools had combined 480 pupils.

    According to local media report, references to an impending attack in Jokela school have been found on the Internet. A video clip called Jokela High School Massacre was posted on YouTube on the internet the day before a shooting. The video begins with a still image of the school and then shows a man pointing a pistol at the camera.

    Tuomas Hulkkonen, a member of the graduating class of the upper level secondary school in Jokela school building, said that he has known the gunman for 10 years since the lower grades. Hulkkonen said that in recent days he had been acting strange, drawing pictures involving firearms. He also said that the suspected gunman had shooting as a hobby.

    The Finnish government has convened for an emergency session over the shooting, and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen characterized the situation as extremely deplorable.

    The Finnish Red Cross has set up a hotline for those needing help in dealing with the crisis.