Imatra shooting

Shooting incident in Imatra, Finland, on 3-4 December 2016

Imatra shooting

Koskenparras in 2010. The Vuoksenvahti Restaurant is visible at the street corner in the background.

Location| Imatra, Finland
Date| 4 December 2016
Target| Random

Attack type

| Shooting
Weapons| Winchester Model 1895 (7.62×54mmR)[1]
Deaths| 3[2]
Injured| 0
Perpetrators| Jori Juhani Lasonen
Motive| Attempt to get into jail to be safe from "a hitman"

The Imatra shooting occurred on 4 December 2016 in the Finnish town of Imatra when Jori Juhani Lasonen, a 23-year-old Imatra resident, shot three people dead in the town centre.[3][4][5]

According to the psychological evaluation, Lasonen was not criminally responsible at the time of the shootings. Therefore, The South Karelia District Court did not sentence him to prison, but instead committed him to involuntary psychiatric treatment.[6]

## Background

[edit]

Lasonen had previous criminal records before the shooting, one for attempted murder and another for gross drunk driving.[7]

On December 14th 2014, exactly two years before the shooting, Lasonen had witnessed his friend's death. Lasonen himself had called the ambulance for his friend, due to his friend being unconscious. Despite the date of the shooting and Lasonen's friend's date of death being the same, Lasonen claimed there was no correlation between the two.[8]

During the interrogation it became clear that Lasonen believed his computer had been broken into and that there had been a drug debt put on his computer, which led to Lasonen believing a hitman was after him. He reported that he believed to have seen his friend's dead body in a car in front of him, which made him believe he would be killed too. Lasonen said his reason for the shooting was to get into jail to be safe from the hitman he believed to be after him.[9][10]

## Shooting

[edit]

Just before midnight on Saturday, 23-year old Jori Juhani Lasonen arrived outside a local restaurant with his car.[11] He waited for vulnerable targets which he chose randomly, according to preliminary police investigations.[5][3] Lasonen stepped out of the car and took a gun, which belonged to his father,[12][13] out of the trunk and shot three people, all of them women, as they stepped outside the restaurant.[12][13][11] The victims sustained multiple injuries in the head and torso and among them was Tiina Wilén-Jäppinen, who was a notable local politician of the social-democratic party. [5] Aside from the three fatally wounded women, no one else sustained injuries.[14]

After shooting the three women, Lasonen waited in his car until the police arrived. Lasonen cooperated with the police and obeyed their instructions and his arrest happened without incident.[5][12]

## Aftermath

[edit]

After the shooting the city decided to open up a crisis center, due to the small size of the city and the weight of the incident. [5][3]

The shooting gained media attention not only in Finland, but also abroad. The incident was the main news on the Swedish Aftonbladet and Norwegian NRK. The news about the incident also gained traction in Japan and New Zealand.[15] It was initially reported that one of the victims killed was the local mayor, but that error has since been fixed.[5]

The family members of the victims made an association which respects and remembers the victims, the association is called "Valon Vuoksi" (lit. For Light).[11]

## Trial and Conviction

[edit]

In the beginning of investigations, Lasonen stayed quiet and refused to speak to the police. On 14th of December, 11 days after the shooting, Lasonen finally spoke to the police during which he admitted to the shooting.[16][9]

During the trial, Lasonen admitted to killing the three women, but argued that they weren't murders. [17] Lasonen also said that he regretted his actions. [18]

During the psychological assessment, Lasonen was found to not be criminally responsible at the time of the shootings.[6] Lasonen was committed into involuntary psychiatric treatment, instead of jail. Lasonen was also ordered to pay a total of 180,000 euros in compensation to the victims' families.[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Winchester hunting rifle that was used in Imatra shooting". Reddit. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
2. ^ "Finland shooting: Three women killed in Imatra". BBC News. 4 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
3. ^ a b c Summers, Hannah; agencies (4 December 2016). "Finland shooting: three women killed outside Imatra restaurant". Retrieved 7 December 2016 - via The Guardian.
4. ^ Rosendahl, Jussi. "Local official, two journalists shot and killed in Finnish town". Reuters. Archived from the original on December 4, 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
5. ^ a b c d e f "Sniper shoots dead local mayor in Finland". Independent. 4 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
6. ^ a b c Teivainen, Aleksi. "Imatra gunman committed to involuntary treatment". Helsinki Times. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
7. ^ "Poliisi: Imatran kolmoismurhan taustalla syrjäytymiseen ja mielenterveyteen liittyviä syitä". Archived from the original on 2016-12-05.
8. ^ "Outo yhteensattuma? Imatran ampuja todisti ystävänsä kuolemaa kaksi vuotta aiemmin surmapäivänä" (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-04-11.
9. ^ a b "Imatran ampuja kertoi kuulusteluissa tarinan oudosta huumevelan perinnästä: "Mie oon epäilly tässä hyvinkin laajaa kuviota" - Rikos - Uutiset - MTV.fi". 2017-08-29. Archived from the original on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
10. ^ "Imatran kolmoissurmasta syytetty halusi mielentilatutkimukseen: Ajatteli, että hänet aiotaan tappaa". Kaleva (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-03-27.
11. ^ a b c Pieti, Pasi (2019-11-21). "3 vuotta sitten tapahtui Suomea järkyttänyt kolmoissurma: Tytär kertoo tänään tv:ssä hetkestä, jolloin kuuli että äiti on ammuttu kadulle". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-03-27.
12. ^ a b c "Three women shot dead after leaving restaurant in Finland". UPI. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
13. ^ a b "Vihastunut mies latasi isänsä kivääriin 5 patruunaa – Näin ilta Imatralla eteni kohti järkyttävää kolmoismurhaa". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2017-08-30. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
14. ^ McKenzie, Sheena. "Finland shooting: 2 journalists, councilwoman killed". CNN. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
15. ^ ""Imatran kolmoismurha nousi otsikoihin maailmalla – Pääuutinen useilla uutissivustoilla"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2016-12-05. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
16. ^ "Imatran kolmoissurmaaja avautui poliisille: "Hänellä on jo jonkin aikaa ollut halu surmata joku"". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-03-27.
17. ^ "Kolmoissurmaaja kiistää murhat – syyttäjän mielestä raaka ja vakaasti harkittu teko". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
18. ^ "Imatran kolmoissurmaaja passitetaan pakkohoitoon – käräjäoikeuden mukaan tekijä syyllistyi kolmeen murhaan". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2024-04-11.

Wikinews has related news:

* Gunman kills official, two journalists in Imatra, Finland

61°10′17″N 28°46′11″E﻿ / ﻿61.1713°N 28.7696°E﻿ / 61.1713; 28.7696