Jokela

Jokela [IPA|ˈjɔkɛlɑ] is one of the three administrative centers in the Finnish municipality Tuusula. It has a population of around 6,000 residents. The Jokela School Centre and the Jokela railway station serve the community. Many residents commute to the capital of Finland, Helsinki, which is about 30 miles away.

History

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 a brick factory opened here. The industry reflected Jokela's population development: in 1920, the city 570 inhabitants. By 1950, there were 1,617.

Rail crash

On April 21, 1996 the Jokela rail crash occurred in Jokela. Four people were killed and 75 injured when express train P82 from Oulu bound for Helsinki derailed in heavy fog. It is estimated that the total cost of the accident was over €4.3 million. [ [http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/?s=s&g=1&ag=2&t=00379 Pages on the rail crash from the YLE Archives] (in Finnish)]

chool shooting

Jokela, however, is best known for the Jokela school shooting, 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. The incident resulted in the deaths of nine peoplecite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/07/school.shooting/index.html|title=Teen gunman dead from critical injuries who opened fire on Finnish classmates|publisher=CNN|date=2007-11-07|accessdate=2007-11-07] cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7082795.stm|title=Fatal shooting at Finnish school|publisher=BBC News|date=2007-11-07|accessdate=2007-11-07] : 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 predicting the massacre at the school.

It was the second of three times that a school shooting has occurred in Finland. The previous incident occurred in 1989 at the "Raumanmeri" school in Rauma, when a 14-year-old fatally shot two fellow students. [cite news|url=http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id74423.html|title=School Shootings Rare in Finland|publisher=YLE|date=2007-11-07|accessdate=2007-11-07] On 23 September 2008, 11 people were killed in the Kauhajoki shooting incident.

References