The Mikkeli hostage crisis, or Jakomäki bank robbery took place on 8–9 August 1986, which ended in

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34, ...

South Savo South Savo (or Southern Savonia; fi, Etelä-Savo; sv, Södra Savolax) is a region in the south-east of Finland. It borders the regions of North Savo, North Karelia, South Karelia, Kymenlaakso, Päijät-Häme, and Central Finland. The total ar ...

, Finland, outside of the Mikkeli County Government House on Maaherrankatu. The crisis began when the perpetrator, Jorma Kalevi Takala (born July 11, 1950) took three hostages in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

in a

bank robbery Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank- ...

, with whom he traveled by car to Mikkeli. The event ended when Takala blew up his car, killing himself and hostage Jukka Häkkinen (born May 13, 1961). In the aftermath of the incident, the Finnish police were subjected to harsh criticism.

Events

The events began on 8 August 1986, when Jorma Takala, armed with a

sawed-off shotgun A sawed-off shotgun (also called a sawn-off shotgun, short-barreled shotgun, shorty or a boom stick) is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel—typically under —and often a shortened or absent stock. Despite the colloquial term, ...

and an explosive charge, entered the

Kansallis-Osake-Pankki Kansallis-Osake-Pankki (KOP) was a Finnish commercial bank operating from 1889 to 1995. It was created by the fennoman movement as a Finnish language alternative to the largely Swedish language bank, Suomen Yhdyspankki (''Swedish: Föreningsbanke ...

bank in Jakomäki,

. Takala took twelve people inside the bank as his hostages. After receiving 2.5 million Finnish marks and a getaway car in exchange for most of the hostages, he left the bank with three remaining hostages, two female and one male. Takala forced the male hostage to drive the car, following Highway 4 and later

Highway 5 Route 5, or Highway 5, may refer to routes in the following countries: International * Asian Highway 5 * European route E05 * European route E005 Argentina * National Route 5 Australia New South Wales * M5 Motorway (Sydney) * The De ...

. The party arrived in Mikkeli on 9 August, where they parked in front of the Mikkeli County Government House. Finnish police surrounded the vehicle and tried to negotiate with Takala. When he threatened to blow up the car if he was not allowed to continue his journey, the police advised the hostages to leave the vehicle. Both female hostages complied, after which the police started to shoot at the car. In response, Takala detonated the charge and destroyed the vehicle, killing both himself and the male hostage. Nine police officers were injured in the explosion.

Gummerus Gummerus Oy is a Finnish media group that was founded in Jyväskylä in 1872 by Kaarle Jaakko Gummerus. In 1985, it moved its headquarters from Jyväskylä to Helsinki. In 2008, it had an annual turnover of EUR 26,9 million. Annually ...

(1987). ''Vuosisatamme kronikka''. Page 1218. Otava (1986). ''Mitä Missä Milloin 1987''. Page 96.

Aftermath

The police received much criticism for its handling of the crisis. Nobody knew who gave the order to shoot at the car and initially none of the police commanders took the responsibility for the operation. After an investigation by the NBI, Chancellor of Justice Jorma S. Aalto decided not to prosecute the police officers for the events. In 1993, the

Supreme Court of Finland The Supreme Court of Finland ( fi, korkein oikeus, abbreviated as ''KKO''; sv, högsta domstolen, abbreviated as ''HD''), located in Helsinki, is the court of last resort for cases within the private law of Finland (that is, civil and criminal ...

convicted the police commissioner who led the operation of involuntary

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 ...

and

negligence Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as ...

and fined him 6,000 mk.Supreme Court resolution 1993:50
Finlex. Retrieved January 3, 2017.

References

External links

Mikkelin panttivankidraamalla traaginen loppu
Newscasts of the hostage crisis on the website of Yle.
Two dead in Finnish crime spree
A

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

article on the hostage crisis. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mikkeli hostage crisis 1986 Hostage taking 1986 crimes in Finland Crime in Finland Mikkeli Bank robberies