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| Europe |
| Finnish bomber was a goof... |
| 2002-10-14 |
| Police believe that a 19-year-old chemistry student, Petri Erkki Tapio Gerdt, set the bomb which exploded on Friday evening at the Myyrmanni shopping mall in Vantaa, just north of Helsinki. Seven people, including the suspected bomber, were killed in the blast and more than 70 were injured. The other six victims ranged in age from seven to 39. So it wasn't formal terrorism. It was just a jerk. The suspected bomber had begun his studies at the Espoo-Vantaa Institute of Technology (EVITech) in late August this year. He lived with his parents in the Tikkurila district of Vantaa. His fellow students described him as a quiet and withdrawn young man who would sit at the rear of the classroom and who rarely took part in student events. During weekends he spent much time surfing the Internet. He is believed to have used the pseudonym RC on a number of message boards. RC was a frequent contributor on a message board known as the Forum for Home Chemistry, focusing on pyrotechnics. RC appeared to be something of an expert in the field, and police are still investigating whether or not RC and the bombing suspect are, in fact, one and the same individual. He was just a boom freak. Didn't even own a turban... Police said on Sunday that the explosive used in the bomb, which weighed two to three kilos, was not of a conventiuonal type, nor was it familiar from military use. Police learned little new information on Sunday, and have not ruled out the possibility that the explosion may have been accidental. "Work accidents" are common enough in the Middle East, even among people with way more experience with explosives than they should have. I'd guess that him getting boomed with his victims was accidental, but not the explosion — why have the device in the mall otherwise? In a search of the suspect's home on Saturday the police found material suggesting that he was involved in the construction of explosives. The bomb appeared to have been built specifically to cause maximum injury: it was packed with metal pieces, either shot or ball-bearings, causing appalling shrapnel wounds to many of the victims. Hospital spokesmen have said that none of the more than 30 persons still in care is in any immediate danger, but at the same time many of the injuries are very grave, with the likelihood of some permanent impediment. A number of people lost limbs. The location and timing of the explosion (a clown show was in progress on the main concourse) meant that many families were together at the moment of the blast, and a number of small children are among those still in hospital. A seven-year-old girl was among the dead. That part makes it sound like he was a psychopath, who wanted to see what would happen when it went off among some real people. He might have experimented with farm animals or people's pets before trying for the big time. Did he hang around to see what the victims would look like when they were fresh kills, and misjudge his distance? Or did it go off prematurely? Would he have continued his hobby if he hadn't managed to boom himself? Probably, but it would have been a Mad Bomber case, not terrorism. Thanks to Jussi for the link! |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |