Kauhajoki policeman hopes publicity might be punishment enough

Officer allowed school massacre gunman to keep weapon

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A police officer on trial for negligent homicide in connection with last year’s massacre at a vocational college in Kauhajoki last year has asked that he might be left without punishment if he is found guilty in the case.
      Prosecutors and relatives of the victims hold the officer responsible for allowing Matti Saari, who later killed 10 people and himself in September last year, to keep a firearms permit in spite of clear danger signs.
      Final arguments were heard in the trial on Monday. The court will give its decision on January 31st.
     
The defendant says that the ordeal of the trial and dealing with the unwanted publicity has been sufficient punishment in his case.
     
Prosecutor Jouko Nurminen feels that a heavy fine would be appropriate in his case.
      The prosecution says that the defendant’s reticence in making a decision led to the final outcome. He would have been able to do something still on the day before the shooting, but he did not do so, even though all signs pointed toward a “new Jokela” - a reference to a previous school massacre nearly a year earlier.
      “He did not understand how powerfully some young people live on the Internet”, Nurminen said.
      “It is clear that he should have understood the danger that was opening up, because everyone else understood it.”
     
Next of kin of the victims say that the defendant took a conscious risk.
      Their lawyer says that other officers would have wanted to take the gun away from Saari, but the defendant prevented this from happening. The officer also did not take the fear of the public into consideration, and if he had acted differently, nobody would have died.
     
Lawyer Lasse Vuola said that the victims had been pawns in a game of prestige among police, and that the defendant had taken offence at the idea that a gun for which he had given a permit would be used for to perpetrate school killings.
      The defendant’s lawyer Hannu Riihioja noted that the situation in which the gun permit application was considered is now being examined in a stilted manner. He says that Saari showed no signs that anything was wrong at the time.
      “The police inspector admits himself that he has made a mistake, but it is not yet a crime”, Riihioja said.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Child of Kauhajoki school shooting victim to pursue claim of negligent manslaughter against police officer (27.4.2009)
  Kauhajoki police officer claims there were no legal grounds to confiscate killer’s handgun (27.3.2009)
  Police officer in Kauhajoki shooting case to be charged with negligence (27.1.2009)
  Families of Kauhajoki victims: Police inspector was acting under influence of alcohol (27.11.2009)
  Families of Kauhajoki victims claim large compensation in damages from government (8.9.2009)
  Eleven die in shooting bloodbath (24.9.2008)

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