Flags were at half-mast across Finland today in mourning for eight people killed by an 18-year-old gunman at a school north of Helsinki.
Flags on the presidential palace, government headquarters and all public buildings were lowered following an order made by Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen at a crisis cabinet meeting in the hours after the shooting.
Six pupils of Jokela secondary school, along with the school's principal and its nurse, were killed when student Pekka-Eric Auvinen opened fire with a .22 calibre handgun in the middle of the school day. He then shot himself in the head.
The gunman, who had a keen interest in war history and extremist movements, died late on Wednesday in hospital.
Many children hid in classrooms for hours after the shooting, fearing the gunman was still a threat.
Police said today that Auvinen, who took more than 300 rounds of ammunition into the school, fired at least 69 times and that all of his victims were hit repeatedly.
They said he tried to set fire to the school, but failed.
Auvinen, who only last month obtained the permit for the gun he used in the shooting, walked through the school's corridors, firing into classroom after classroom, according to a teacher at the school.
