Finland school shooters 'may have had contact'

Updated 21.39 Wed Sep 24 2008

Keywords: massacre, Matti Saari, shooting, mourning, Finland

The two men who killed students in two separate school shootings in Finland within the past year were likely to have been in contact with each other, police have said.

Police head investigator Jari Neulaniemi said: "It is very likely.

"It is very likely (that they were in contact)." - police

"We don't have that information right now but it would not be a surprise if we found that out."

Mr Neulaniemi said Matti Saari, the gunman in Tuesday's shooting spree in the town of Kauhajoki in western Finland, bought his gun in the town of Jokela in the south of the country less than 11 months ago.

Saari killed ten people and then himself in a crime that resembled Pekka-Eric Auvinen's killing of eight people at Jokela school last year.

Auvinen also shot and killed himself.

A day of mourning for the dead student was undertaken in Finland on Wednesday.