This Simply Can't Have Happened in Finland :-(

In the context of my entry the other day on the 18th homicide of the year in Vancouver (it's up to 19 now), I feel extremely saddened by the news from back home in Finland: 8 dead in a school shooting in Jokela (35km/25mi) north of Helsinki.

From the Washington Post:

TUUSULA, Finland -- An 18-year-old gunman killed eight people at a high
school in southern Finland on Wednesday, then shot himself but survived, police
said.

They said the high school's principal was among the dead.

Police said the gunman, who used a .22-caliber pistol, was taken to
hospital with serious wounds and the situation was "under control" after
officers surrounded Jokela High School in Tuusula, some 30 miles north of the
capital, Helsinki.

It was the first known school shooting in Finland, where gun ownership is fairly common by European standards, but shootings are rare.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the victims' families and friends...