The Jokela shooting was Finland's deadliest school shooting and directly preceded a second similar attack less than a year later.
Key Facts
- Date
- 7 November 2007
- Gunman
- Pekka-Eric Auvinen, age 18
- Killed
- 8 (plus gunman) people
- Wounded by gunfire
- 1 person
- Additional injuries
- 12 (glass/panic) people
- Weapon
- Semi-automatic pistol
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Pekka-Eric Auvinen, an 18-year-old student, arrived at Jokela High School armed with a semi-automatic pistol. His motivations and prior online activity suggested premeditated intent. This was only the second school shooting in Finnish history, the first having occurred in 1989.
On 7 November 2007, Auvinen opened fire inside Jokela High School in Tuusula, Finland. He killed eight people and wounded one with gunfire; twelve others sustained injuries from flying glass or falls during the panic. Auvinen then shot himself and died that evening in a Helsinki hospital.
The massacre prompted national debate in Finland over gun control and school security. Less than a year later, the Kauhajoki school shooting occurred and was widely believed to have been heavily inspired by Auvinen's attack, indicating a direct copycat influence on subsequent violence.