Myyrmanni bombing
Encyclopedia
The Myyrmanni bombing took place on October 11, 2002, in Myyrmäki
Myyrmäki
Myyrmäki is a district of the city of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of 2.7 square kilometers and a population of about 14,500. It is home to Myyrmanni, a large shopping complex....

, Vantaa
Vantaa
Vantaa is a city and municipality in Finland. Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen make up the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.Vantaa, with its population of , is the fourth most populated city of Finland. The biggest airport in Finland, the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, is located there...

, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, in Greater Helsinki
Greater Helsinki
Greater Helsinki and the smaller Helsinki Metropolitan Area or Capital Region refer to two regions of different size surrounding Helsinki, the capital of Finland...

, at the Myyrmanni
Myyrmanni
Myyrmanni is a shopping center located at the Myyrmäki suburb of Vantaa, Finland. The center was built in the early 1990s and it has over 120 stores and 1,100 parking spaces. It was the site of the Myyrmanni bombing on October 11, 2002....

 shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

. The bomb killed seven, including two teenagers, a 7-year-old child and the presumed bomber. 166 people were injured, including 10 children. 66 victims required hospitalization with the remainder treated and released at the scene. The shopping center was especially crowded, with almost 2,000 people, including many children who had come to see a clown performance.

The presumed perpetrator was Petri Erkki Tapio Gerdt (April 17, 1983 - October 11, 2002), who was killed in the explosion. He was a 19-year-old chemical engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...

 student at EVTEK
EVTEK
EVTEK University of Applied Sciences is one of Finland's applied science polytechnics. Evtek University of Applied Sciences is a forward-looking, international educational institution with a reputation for excellence in Greater Helsinki...

 (Espoo-Vantaa Institute of Technology) and a hobbyist bomb-maker. He was also an active member of Kotikemia ("Home chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

"), an on-line forum for amateur chemists.

The explosive device was likely constructed in his apartment. It weighed about 2-3 kilograms and was made of ammonium nitrate and nitromethane
Nitromethane
Nitromethane is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest organic nitro compound. It is a slightly viscous, highly polar liquid commonly used as a solvent in a variety of industrial applications such as in extractions, as a reaction medium, and as a cleaning solvent...

 with shotgun pellets
Lead shot
Lead shot is a collective term for small balls of lead. These were the original projectiles for muskets and early rifles, but today lead shot is fired primarily from shotguns. It is also used for a variety of other purposes...

. The motive for the bombing is unclear, but it is suspected that the bomb exploded prematurely. According to the police, the use of pellets to increase lethality hints that Gerdt's intention might have been to leave the bomb in the mall and detonate it remotely after leaving. Petri's father, Armas Gerdt, noted that Gerdt used to detonate his home-made explosives in the woods nearby and suspects that he was transporting the bomb to be set off elsewhere.
The possibility of Gerdt having links to any radical groups or terrorist organizations has been ruled out.
Armas Gerdt has written the book Petrin matka Myyrmanniin ("Petri's Path to Myyrmanni") about the incident. The moderator of Kotikemia was acquitted of responsibility in court. The bombing was especially shocking for Finland and the other Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...

, where bombings are extremely rare. The shopping centre was closed for nearly three weeks before re-opening later in October. Flags were ordered flown at half staff throughout Finland.

External links

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