Two wounded in gang-related shootout in Helsinki

Police holding two members of Bandidos MC motorcycle gang

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Two people were wounded in a shootout in the Vaasanaukio square next to the Sörnäinen metro station in Helsinki's Kallio district just after 9 o'clock on Saturday evening. Both victims were taken to hospital. Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. One of the victims was shot in the leg, while the other one took a bullet in his torso.
      Handguns were used to fire several shots, possibly half a dozen in all. Soon after, the police apprehended a number of men elsewhere in Helsinki on suspicion of having taken part in the shootout. Various handguns in their possession were confiscated.
      According to Inspector Tom Packalén, no outsiders were caught in the line of fire. The police have established that the shootout relates to a showdown between rival gangs Rogues Gallery and Bandidos MC.
      Rogues Gallery was founded by a former member of the Cannonball MC gang, who is now serving a life sentence for a triple homicide that took place a few years ago. At a pizzeria in Lahti, three men were shot dead during a trial recess.
     
A 30-year-old woman, who was in the nearby Iltakoulu restaurant, is one of the witnesses of the latest incident. She heard the shots and saw from the restaurant window how people in the square ran to seek shelter behind parked cars.
      Another eyewitness followed the events in the square from a nearby apartment block window. "A man with a ponytail was chased by two other men. He ran from the corner of the Iltakoulu restaurant towards the Sörnäinen metro station and collapsed in front of a café just before the station."
      Two youths at a tram stop in front of the metro station saw the man who was shot in the leg collapse, whereas the man wounded in his trunk remained standing while waiting for the police and the paramedics. "One of the shooters ran into the metro with a gun behind his back", the youth reported.
      "The used gun was probably a 9mm Glock as the shells were copper-coloured and blunt" estimated the youths, who themselves take interest in target practice.
     
On Sunday the police took into custody two members of the Bandidos MC gang in connection with the shootout investigation.
      According to chief inspector Kari Tolvanen, who is in charge of the investigation, the men were apprehended in Helsinki's Kulosaari district. Several handguns were confiscated in their possession.
      "The decision whether to issue a warrant of arrest will be made by Tuesday noon. Both the technical investigation and the hearing of witnesses continue", Tolvanen explains. On Saturday night the police apprehended ten people in all.
     
According to the Finnish News Agency STT, seven brass shells used in semi-automatic pistols were found at the scene of the shooting.
      Tolvanen believes it is possible that the shooting was retaliation for the Lahti pizzeria killings of January 2000. In Lahti, three former members of the Cannonball MC gang, while on a lunch break from a court hearing, entered a local pizzeria and shot dead the chairman and one member of the Bandidos gang and the president of the Black Rhinos group. Several other people were also wounded.
      The killers were caught and later sentenced to life imprisonment by the Kouvola Court of Appeal.
     
The Lahti incident was only one among several clashes between bike gangs around the turn of the millennium.
      The turf wars were not confined to Finland, either. There were a number of violent altercations in other Nordic countries, including shoot-outs in Oslo and at Copenhagen's Kastrup Airport and a bazooka attack on the headquarters of the Finnish chapter of the Hells Angels. 


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Three dead in biker gang shoot-out in Lahti (19.1.2000)

Helsingin Sanomat