The Myyrmanni bombing took place on October 11, 2002, in

Myyrmäki Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning " Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is ...

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, in

Greater Helsinki Greater Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin seutu, Suur-Helsinki, Swedish: ''Helsingforsregionen'', ''Storhelsingfors'') is the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It includes the smaller Capital Region (''Pääkaupunkiseutu' ...

, at the

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 90 stores and 1,100 parking spaces. The main tenants of the shopping center include S-market, Alko, H&M, ...

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

. A bomb, hidden in a backpack, exploded in the central square of the shopping center on top of a metal waste container, located in the center of the square, at 19:36. Five people were killed immediately, including the bomb carrier. The waste container was shattered, and fragments of the structure increased the amount of shrapnel and the devastation. The explosion ruined 400 m² of the shopping center, carved a 10-cm deep crater in the floor where the waste container had stood and blew the glass dome over the square up and outwards from the mall. In total seven died, including two teenagers and a 7-year-old. 159 were injured, including 10 children. 66 victims required hospitalization with the remainder treated and released at the scene. The bombing took place during the pre-weekend shopping surge late on a Friday afternoon, with 1,000–2,000 people in the shopping center, including many children who had come to see a clown performance.

Details

The bomb carrier was Petri Erkki Tapio Gerdt (April 17, 1983 – October 11, 2002), who was killed in the explosion. He was a quiet 19-year-old

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

student at EVTEK (Espoo-Vantaa Institute of Technology) and a hobbyist bomb-maker. Gerdt was known to have had no notable friends. He played basketball and had no prior criminal record. He was also an active member of ''Kotikemia'' (lit. " home chemistry"), an online forum for amateur chemists. The moderator of Kotikemia was acquitted of responsibility in court. The explosive device was likely constructed in Gerdt's apartment. It was a 1.5 liter plastic bottle that contained

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...

and

nitromethane Nitromethane, sometimes shortened to simply "nitro", is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest organic nitro compound. It is a polar liquid commonly used as a solvent in a variety of industrial applications such as in ...

with

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

pellets and weighed about . Investigations revealed that some kind of a

timer A timer is a specialized type of clock used for measuring specific time intervals. Timers can be categorized into two main types. The word "timer" is usually reserved for devices that counts down from a specified time interval, while devices th ...

was also used. Kotikemia was shut down by the authorities following the bombing.

Investigation

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation investigated the event as six accounts of murder, one account of aggravated criminal mischief and one account of an explosives offence. The case was closed in January 2003 without any indictments as Gerdt was the sole suspect. Gerdt's motive for the bombing was not ascertained during the investigation. There was no evidence found that Gerdt had links to any outside groups or to any international terrorist organizations.

Reactions

The bombing was especially shocking for Finland and the other

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

, where bombings are extremely rare.

Aftermath

On October 15, 2002, a national day of mourning was held throughout Finland. Some government buildings were closed, a moment of silence was held in the Parliament and flags ordered to be flown at half staff. The shopping center was closed for repairs for nearly three weeks before re-opening later in October.

Legacy

Petri Gerdt's father, Armas, wrote the book ''Petrin matka Myyrmanniin'' ("Petri's Road to Myyrmanni") about the incident.

References

External links

Petrin matka Myyrmanniin
Suomalainen.com bookstore {{Coord, 60, 15, 36.5, N, 24, 51, 12, E, type:event, display=title Vantaa Shopping mall bombings Improvised explosive device bombings in Europe Mass murder in 2002 2002 murders in Finland October 2002 events in Europe