Sanna Riitta Liisa Sillanpää (born 15 April 1968) is a Finnish woman who shot three men to death with a rented

9mm This is a list of firearm cartridges that have bullets in the to caliber In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviate ...

Beretta 92FS The Beretta 92 (also Beretta 96 and Beretta 98) is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and manufactured by Beretta of Italy. History Carlo Beretta, Giuseppe Mazzetti and Vittorio Valle, all experienced firearms designers, contributed to ...

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

on 21 February 1999 in a

shooting range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue, or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by milita ...

in ,

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, and wounded another man, who received lifetime injuries. One man present was not harmed. One of the dead was the shooting club's 23-year-old supervisor. As Sillanpää was leaving the club, she said: "This is what they taught us at the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

academy, isn't it?". She then traveled from the Helsinki center to the

Helsinki-Vantaa Airport Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (, ) , or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport serving Helsinki, the capital of Finland, as well as its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region in Finland. The airport is located in t ...

in a city bus, carrying a gun and ammunition. At the airport, she was trying to buy a ticket to "somewhere". Sillanpää was caught after four hours as she was boarding an airplane to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Sillanpää guilty of three counts of manslaughter
''

Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...

'', international edition, 12 October 1999 archive.org Before boarding the plane she left the gun in a trash can in the airport terminal. It was discovered by a cleaner.

Trial

At the trials and hearings, Sillanpää did not speak at all. No motive for the act was found.Ampumaratasurmia tutkinut poliisikansanedustaja muistelee – Salaiset kansiot -sarjaakin tutkittiin motiivina
mtv.fi In mental health examinations Sillanpää was found to have

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

, and had a delusion of being the widow of an agent of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, whose death she had to avenge. She appeared to be a fan of ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

'', and the police investigated the possibility of the series having a plot line similar to Sillanpää's actions, although nothing of the sort was found. In

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

, the state prosecutor Maarit Loimukoski demanded Sillanpää to be imprisoned for three acts of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

without full understanding (partially insane) and two attempted acts of manslaughter, but on 11 October 1999, the district court deemed Sillanpää legally insane. Loimukoski appealed the decision to the Helsinki Court of Appeal, but the decision was upheld on 11 October 2000. Loimukoski explained that the reason for her demand for punishment was that Sillanpää had acted with premeditation in attempting to flee Finland and hiding the gun after the act. Sillanpää was sent to the

Niuvanniemi Niuvanniemi hospital is a state psychiatric hospital in the Niuva district of Kuopio, Finland. Along with the other state mental hospital, Vanha Vaasa hospital, it provides Forensic psychiatry, forensic psychiatric services for the entire country. ...

mental hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

. Sillanpää, 30 years old at the time, has a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

and is an IT expert who worked for Fujitsu Finland Oy in Helsinki. After the incident, the Ministry of the Interior demanded that the security and permissions of commercial shooting ranges should be checked.Sisäministeriö: Ampumaratojen toiminta tutkittava
Yle Uutiset. Accessed on 4 June 2017. The rules for first-timer participation on shooting ranges were subsequently made more strict.

References

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110721170529/http://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/arkisto/9902/990223/9902230176.html MTV3 News archive 23 February 1999: Weapon allegedly used in triple manslaughter found
MTV3 News archive 24 February 1999: Triple manslaughter suspect: "The bullets are personal mementos"

* ttp://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/arkisto/9906/990602/9906020148.html MTV3 News archive 31 May 1999: Sillanpää sent to mental health examination

Books

* ''Pohjolan poliisi kertoo'' 2001 (article: ''Ampumaratasurmat'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Sillanpaa, Sanna 1968 births 1999 murders in Europe 1990s murders in Finland Criminals from Helsinki Finnish female murderers Finnish people with disabilities Living people Mass shootings in Finland People acquitted by reason of insanity People acquitted of murder People with schizophrenia Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century mass murder in Finland