Kauhajoki School Shooting

Surprised there is no thread for this, its one of my favorite shootings to research honestly

On September 23rd 2008, 22 year old hospitality management student Matti Juhani Saari, committed a mass shooting at the Kauhajoki School of Hospitality in the town of Kauhajoki, Finland. He entered the school through the basement wearing a dress shirt, black leather jacket, black dress pants, Adidas Superstar shoes with a black and white pattern, and according to some sources wearing a black balaclava mask. He was carrying with him a black duffel bag which contained a Walther P22 .22lr pistol with a compensator/muzzle brake attached, 8 magazines, hundreds of rounds of ammo, a hammer, and some homemade Molotov cocktails. At 10:40 A.M, he opened fire in his classroom taking an exam which was filled with about 20 students in the classroom, killing 8 students including his best friend, 21 year old Marko Olavi Koskinen. During the shooting in the classroom, he yelled: "Everybody dies except Marko!" he however would kill Marko, whether by mistake or intentionally for unknown reasons. He shot each of the victims multiple times. He then went outside into the hallway to reload, during which the professor Kimmo Antero Martiskainen tried to prevent Saari from reentering, but Saari shot and killed him, bringing the death toll to 9. 2 female students from another classroom went to check to see what was going on, Saari fired at them, killing 1, and injuring the other I believe, bringing the death toll to 10, in addition to 1 injured. Saari then set the exam room ablaze with a Molotov cocktail, which burned the already dead victims beyond recognition. Saari then ran down the hallway and into a language laboratory which was empty of people, and also set the room on fire with another Molotov cocktail. He then proceeded to shoot out the windows in the main hallway. At around 11:00 A.M, the first police units arrived to the scene, Saari shot at them from inside the building, but he did not hit any of them, and the officers retreated. He then roamed the school for about an hour, shooting at more random objects, not being able to find more victims. The police decided to wait for more units before they would move into the school, from 11:45 to 12:00, they attempted to enter the school through the main entrance, but backed down because of the black smoke that filled throughout the building caused by Matti's Molotov's. At 11:53, Matti called one his friends, Rauno, and told him he was the perpetrator of the shooting, and that he had just shot and killed 10 people, and that he wanted to say goodbye. Rauno ended the call by saying goodbye to him after Saari said goodbye also. Matti then continued to roam the building. At 12:30 P.M, police encountered Saari in a hallway, whereupon he shot himself in the head in front of them. He did not die instantly however, and died later in the hospital at 17:40 (5:40 P.M), bringing the total death toll to 11 including Saari. 10 others were injured trying to escape the school. It is both Finlands worst school and mass shooting, which took the record of the Jokela School Shooting of the year before. Nearly 200 rounds were fired during the shooting

Police found a suicide note in Saari's apartment which he lived alone in with his cat (the cat was given to his mother after the shooting if your wondering), where he stated he was planning the shooting for six years, and he did it because he hated the human race (misanthropy) and also partially revenge for school bullying. Saari had posted 4 YouTube videos of him shooting guns at a firing range with victim Marko recording under the username Wumpscut86 (German electro-industrial band Wumpscut combined with his birth year of 1986). On IRC-Galleria, a Finnish social media site, he posted a video of him saying to the camera "You will die next!" before firing 4 shots near it. Police investigated him for one of the videos before they let him go after Saari explained he didn't really mean anything by it, this was 2 days before the shooting.

Matti Saari was born on May 20th 1986. His parents separated when he was 1 year old, leaving him and his older brother to be raised by their mother. Saari's father started a new relationship with another woman, and Matti would infrequently see his father throughout his childhood, but when he reached his teens he saw his father more often. His stepmom did not like Matti and his brother very well. Through his birth father and stepmother, he had a half-brother and half-sister. Growing up, he was slow to develop, remembered for being short (He was around 5'6 to 5'8 at the time of his death, his exact height isn't specified) for his age, and having constant illnesses. From primary to secondary school, he was bullied constantly by his peers. He would develop social anxiety, shyness, and would have panic attacks. Sometime in his youth, he became fascinated by school shootings and on April 26th 2002, the Erfurt School Massacre in Germany happened, which could have possibly gave Saari inspiration to start planning his own shooting, though it hasn't been proven if Saari was interested in Erfurt, though it could be very likely he did know of it. In 2003, when Saari was 17, his 23 year old brother died from a heart attack, which only made Saari's mental health problems even worse, as he was probably very close to his brother, he became more depressed because of his death. In 2006, Saari was enlisted in the Finnish armed forces for 1 month, but was discharged after opening fire against orders in a woodland exercise. His fellow soldiers in training remembered Saari as being quite strange, and he was picked on and teased by his fellow trainees. On November 7th 2007, 18 year old Pekka-Eric Auvinen committed his shooting rampage at Jokela High School in Tuusala, Finland, Killing 8 before turning the gun on himself, Saari became obsessed with the incident , and admired Auvinen. Between November 2007 and September 2008, Saari imitated Auvinen's clothing style, including combing his hair the way Auvinen did. In March 2008, Saari joined YouTube under the Wumpscut86 moniker, although he didnt upload as many videos as Auvinen did, he favorited 2 music videos about Columbine, and wrote the lyrics to Wumpscut's "War" on his profile. Saari dated one girl, but the girlfriend dumped him because he wouldn't stop talking to her about school shootings. One time he got drunk at a party with his peers, and said "humanity is overrated" in reference to Auvinen's custom made t-shirt. Some of his friends knew of his obsession with school shootings, and Saari showed one friend videos of Columbine, Virginia Tech and probably Jokela. During the final years of his life, Saari became a drunkard, he was arrested one time due to driving while under the influence, another time he was arrested on a ferry for behaving violently towards his friend

Kauhajoki Official Report
Kauhajoki Archive on YT

Some more facts about Saari:

He loved metal and rock music, and some of his favorite bands included Kiuas, Rammstein, Sentenced (some of their lyrics focus around mental health issues like suicide and depression, and I can honestly see why he liked them), Metallica, Gloria Morti, Eisbrecher, In Flames, Scar Symmetry, and many other artists like Sonic Syndicate, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Nightwish, Within Temptation, etc.

He had another YouTube channel that was privatized where he uploaded videos of him playing his drums (IIRC, source is from U/Fuzzy-Logic from Reddit, also a member of this forum)

He took a trip to England with some peers in 2006 to work at a hotel for a training course, after coming back in January 2007, his mother noticed a change in his behavior, he would lay in his bed doing nothing, and not eat or drink anything. She took him to
a doctor, where he showed symptoms of depression, and after the appointment his behavior went back to normal.   

The day before the shooting, he filmed videos of him at the school talking about what he was going to do, the videos have never been released. In the videos he said: ‘So that was my school then
… tomorrow … I’m going to kill a lot of people here … die, all you fucking bastards.’

He was seeing a psychiatrist for depression at the time of the shooting, and had cancelled his next appointment 6 days before the shooting

On June 25th 2008, Matti filled an application to the police for a permit to buy the Walther P22

On September 2nd, he brought his Walther P22 for inspection to the police in accordance with the Firearms Act. Matti was giggling and snuffling when presenting the gun to the inspector

Matti's YouTube channel was discovered by a municipal park employee, who alerted the police. The park employee had found a lit candle near the Kauhajoki Upper Secondary School (don't understand why he was concerned, unless he thought attempted arson?, Matti denied planting the candle.

The day before the shooting on September 22nd, Matti went to the Kauhajoki Police Department for a meeting with police on his YouTube channel. The police were mainly concerned because Matti's shooting videos and other content on the channel were similar to that of Pekka-Eric Auvinens. Matti had to explain to the police that there were plenty of videos on YouTube of people like him shooting guns, and that they shouldn't be worried.

He bought the hammer from a hardware store

He spent hours a day surfing the internet and researching school shootings

He lived in Kauhajoki for a year

"He has been
described as lively and happy as a baby but shy, withdrawn, and quiet as a child and
later in his life"

His mom remarried, and he had three half-brothers through her and his stepfather

He had trouble paying his rent for his apartment, which caused him anxiety and his mother had to help him

When he was in school, other students threatened to break his moped, so he sold it

During his secondary school years he sometimes committed petty theft and would have intoxicants on him

Sometimes the bullying got so bad, he called his mother from school to come take him home

Sometime between primary and secondary school, he did a health questionnaire where he said he was suffering from sleeplessness, depression, trouble concentrating, and timidity

In the spring of 2008, Matti and some fellow students went to Hungary for a training course. While there he was reported to have abused alcohol, played with a knife, and made references to suicide. He also expressed admiration for Pekka-Eric Auvinen

His fellow students reported sometimes when he got drunk, it was difficult to talk to him because he was so drunk, and he would sometimes get aggressive, his family was not aware of his aggression.

When he was drunk at the student party where he said Humanity Is Overrated, he also tried to ask a girl out, when she rejected him, he said "You'll be sorry"

His father was worried for him for his increasingly worsening psychological condition

In spring 2008, he told his half-sister everyone would be better if he was gone

One time when buying ammo and clips for his gun, the sales assistants called him a copy-cat of Auvinen because he was dressed similar to him, wearing a black leather jacket and had his hair combed back, he was said to be expressionless and stone-faced

While in the military one of his fellow conscripts urinated on his bed as a form of bullying

The weekend before the shooting, while he was drunk he stopped random people on the street and said "Humanity is overrated, isn't it?"

Some music he listened to:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Some more photos:
The hammer Matti used in the shooting
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
A molotov cocktail used in the shooting
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Pekka-Eric Auvinen's Manifesto on Matti's computer
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

"Hey, you! I bet you're wondering why I did this. The reason is that I hate people and society. I've always wanted to murder as many people as possible: this shit human race. I've been planning this type of act since 2002. I will kill everything that comes before me. No pity for the masses!"

"Continuously pissed off, but fortunately the solution to this problem can be found in a lair called Sööpärintie 2 C 20 : namely Walther P22 Target! Headshot!"

DevilishManiac wrote:

"Hey, you! I bet you're wondering why I did this. The reason is that I hate people and society. I've always wanted to murder as many people as possible: this shit human race. I've been planning this type of act since 2002. I will kill everything that comes before me. No pity for the masses!"

"Continuously pissed off, but fortunately the solution to this problem can be found in a lair called Sööpärintie 2 C 20 : namely Walther P22 Target! Headshot!"

Wow, where did you find the transcript of the note? I thought it was never released to the public? Didn't he also say "I hate the human race, the solution is Walther P22" or was that a misquote?

lognifiiskurk wrote:

Some more photos:
The hammer Matti used in the shooting
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
A molotov cocktail used in the shooting
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Pekka-Eric Auvinen's Manifesto on Matti's computer
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

He didn't use molotovs he just filled up 1.5 liter plastic bottles with gasoline just like his idol Pekka

Wumpscut referenced Matti in the first song of their 2009 album Fuckit:



The translation in the video may be a little off?

Matti Saari's mother being interviewed (no subtitles):

The classroom after the fire.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Engel wrote:

The weekend before the shooting, while he was drunk he stopped random people on the street and said "Humanity is overrated, isn't it?"

A drunk saying that humanity is overrated? well, here's the hypocrisy.

if you're going to imitate a person in anything, know exactly what he wanted to do.

[quote="DevilishManiac"]

lognifiiskurk wrote:

He didn't use molotovs he just filled up 1.5 liter plastic bottles with gasoline just like his idol Pekka

That's it: a person could have saved even the brain of a genius. that doesn't mean she understands what she's doing and guarding.

Pekka wrote:

DevilishManiac wrote:

lognifiiskurk wrote:

He didn't use molotovs he just filled up 1.5 liter plastic bottles with gasoline just like his idol Pekka

That's it: a person could have saved even the brain of a genius. that doesn't mean she understands what she's doing and guarding.

At least Matti actually managed to light the school on fire, unlike Pekka the genius

ZAVANZK wrote:

Pekka wrote:

DevilishManiac wrote:

lognifiiskurk wrote:

He didn't use molotovs he just filled up 1.5 liter plastic bottles with gasoline just like his idol Pekka

That's it: a person could have saved even the brain of a genius. that doesn't mean she understands what she's doing and guarding.

At least Matti actually managed to light the school on fire, unlike Pekka the genius

Do you really believe that Pekka's attack is an end in itself? don't you read what i write?

ZAVANZK wrote:

Pekka wrote:

DevilishManiac wrote:

lognifiiskurk wrote:

He didn't use molotovs he just filled up 1.5 liter plastic bottles with gasoline just like his idol Pekka

That's it: a person could have saved even the brain of a genius. that doesn't mean she understands what she's doing and guarding.

At least Matti actually managed to light the school on fire, unlike Pekka the genius

what are they going to talk about soon? that all attacks are the same? of course, those who only repeat what they hear and do not reason, it is obvious that they only transmit information, like a virus. although most have always been really a virus. A virus that nature is eliminating every day, with every genetic line cut, every death, every change.

Pekka wrote:

ZAVANZK wrote:

Pekka wrote:

DevilishManiac wrote:

lognifiiskurk wrote:

He didn't use molotovs he just filled up 1.5 liter plastic bottles with gasoline just like his idol Pekka

That's it: a person could have saved even the brain of a genius. that doesn't mean she understands what she's doing and guarding.

At least Matti actually managed to light the school on fire, unlike Pekka the genius

Do you really believe that Pekka's attack is an end in itself? don't you read what i write?

Idk, but;

Matti= successful arson

Pekka = unsuccessful arson

STR8 FAX

ZAVANZK wrote:

Pekka wrote:

ZAVANZK wrote:

Pekka wrote:

DevilishManiac wrote:

lognifiiskurk wrote:

He didn't use molotovs he just filled up 1.5 liter plastic bottles with gasoline just like his idol Pekka

That's it: a person could have saved even the brain of a genius. that doesn't mean she understands what she's doing and guarding.

At least Matti actually managed to light the school on fire, unlike Pekka the genius

Do you really believe that Pekka's attack is an end in itself? don't you read what i write?

Idk, but;

Matti= successful arson

Pekka = unsuccessful arson

STR8 FAX

If you want to learn anything by understanding things like this, you need to understand who does them, honestly. You need to learn.

ZAVANZK wrote:

Pekka wrote:

ZAVANZK wrote:

Pekka wrote:

DevilishManiac wrote:

lognifiiskurk wrote:

He didn't use molotovs he just filled up 1.5 liter plastic bottles with gasoline just like his idol Pekka

That's it: a person could have saved even the brain of a genius. that doesn't mean she understands what she's doing and guarding.

At least Matti actually managed to light the school on fire, unlike Pekka the genius

Do you really believe that Pekka's attack is an end in itself? don't you read what i write?

Idk, but;

Matti= successful arson

Pekka = unsuccessful arson

STR8 FAX

When you understand that the attack was a means and not an end in itself, these details will be useless. those who attest to details of attacks only do so to satisfy their internal violence. and they cannot see the obvious, because they are either afraid or blinded by dark feelings that only show what exists inside people.

don't you think it's strange that flammable liquids don't burn?

Read everything I've written, and put the pieces together. I think you'll understand.

Pekka wrote:

don't you think it's strange that flammable liquids don't burn?

Two-stroke oil is hard to ignite, as Pekka found out....

Rosie1756 wrote:

The classroom after the fire.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That isn't Classroom 3 but a classroom called "Toiska"