KAUHAJOKI, Finland — A chilling YouTube video with a young man firing a pistol and warning, “You will die next,” caught the eye of police, who questioned him but then let him go, saying they didn’t have enough evidence to take away his weapon.
On Tuesday, he walked into a vocational college, the School of Hospitality, and opened fire, killing 10 people and burning their bodies with firebombs before shooting himself fatally in the head.
At least two other people were hurt.
The rampage bore eerie similarities to a school massacre in Finland last year in which an 18-year-old gunman killed eight people and himself. Both gunmen posted violent clips on YouTube prior to the shootings, and both were fascinated by the 1999 Columbine school shootings.
Tuesday’s shooting raised questions about whether police could have prevented it, and although there was little initial debate about gun control, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said the government may consider restrictions on privately held semiautomatic weapons.
There are roughly 1.6 million firearms in private hands in Finland, a nation with deep-rooted traditions of hunting in the sub-Arctic wilderness.
Finnish media identified the gunman as Matti Juhani Saari, a 22-year-old student at the school, which offers courses in catering, tourism, nursing and home economics. Police declined to identify him, saying he did not have a previous criminal record.
Witnesses said panic erupted as the masked gunman, dressed in black and carrying a large bag, entered the school just before 11 a.m. and started firing in a classroom where students were taking an exam.
“I heard several dozen rounds of shots — in other words, it was an automatic pistol,” janitor Jukka Forsberg told broadcaster YLE. “I saw some female students who were wailing . . . and one managed to escape out the back door.”
About 150 students were inside the school, 180 miles northwest of Helsinki, when the shooting began.
Students and teachers were evacuated — some reportedly fleeing down a river in row boats — as police arrived.
Jari Neulaniemi, the officer heading the investigation, said the attacker had a .22-caliber pistol and firebombs used to start several fires. Many bodies were burned beyond recognition, he said.
The gunman left two notes saying he had planned the attack since 2002 and that he hated the human race, Neulaniemi said. A video on the Internet showed the alleged gunman pointing his gun to the camera and saying, “You will die next,” before firing four rounds.
Online.
