Jokela
Encyclopedia
Tuusula
Tuusula is a municipality of Finland. It belongs to the Helsinki sub-region of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of .-Geography:...
. It has a population of around 6,000 residents. The Jokela School Centre and the Jokela railway station
Jokela railway station
Jokela railway station is located in Tuusula, Finland, 48 km to the north of Helsinki Central railway station. It is situated between the stations of Nuppulinna and Hyvinkää...
serve the community. Many residents commute to the capital of Finland, Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, which is about 30 miles or 30 minutes away.
Early settlement
Until the mid-19th century the area around Jokela was scarcely populated. The development of Jokela began with the opening of a railway line in 1862. In 1874 the railway station was built and the first brick factory was founded. Several other brick factories would later follow to meet the needs of the rapidly growing capital as well as a match factory next to Jokela manor. The industrial development increased population: in 1920 there were 570 inhabitants and by 1950 1,617.Rail crash
On April 21, 1996 a rail accident occurred where four people were killed and 75 injured when express train P82 from Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....
bound for Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
derailed in heavy fog. There was a strict speed limit due to a bridge construction which P82 failed to heed. It is estimated that the total cost of the accident was over €4.3 million.
School shooting
Jokela, however, is best known for the Jokela school shootingJokela school shooting
The Jokela school massacre was a school shooting that occurred on November 7, 2007, at Jokela High School in Jokela, a town in the municipality of Tuusula, Finland. The gunman, 18-year-old student Pekka-Eric Auvinen, entered the school on that morning armed with a semi-automatic pistol. He killed...
, a school shooting which occurred on November 7, 2007. At approximately 11:44 local time (9:44 UTC) Pekka-Eric Auvinen opened fire at the Jokela High School
Jokela High School
Jokela High School is a public secondary school in Jokela School Centre in the village of Jokela, Tuusula municipality, Finland. It is located 43 kilometers outside the capital Helsinki. The school educates about 450 pupils. Jokela School Center also houses grades 7–9.-School shooting:The school...
. The incident resulted in the deaths of nine people: five male pupils and one female pupil; the school principal; the school nurse; and the shooter himself, who was also one of the school's pupils. Hours before the incident, the shooter posted a video on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
predicting the massacre at the school. A day after the shooting a picture of Auvinen holding a gun and a message he would "kill people at jokela high school today in the name of
anonymous
Anonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
" was posted on the imageboard 4chan
4chan
4chan is an English-language imageboard website. Launched on October 1, 2003, its boards were originally used for the posting of pictures and discussion of manga and anime...
. It has been stated by the Finnish police that they could not find a connection between Auvinen and "Anonymous
Anonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
".
It was the second of three school shootings that have occurred in Finland. The previous incident occurred in 1989 at the Raumanmeri school in Rauma
Rauma, Finland
Rauma is a town and municipality of ca. inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Granted town privileges on May 17, 1442 , Rauma is known of its high quality lace , and of the old wooden architecture of its centre , which is a Unesco world heritage...
, when a 14-year-old fatally shot two fellow students. On 23 September 2008, 11 people were killed in the Kauhajoki school shooting
Kauhajoki school shooting
The Kauhajoki school shooting was a school shooting that occurred on 23 September 2008, at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences in Kauhajoki, a city in Western Finland. The gunman, 22-year-old culinary arts student Matti Juhani Saari, shot and fatally injured ten people with a semi-automatic...
.