Four people shot in Finnish school

Four people were shot – one of them fatally – by a teenager in a Finnish school on Wednesday, media reports and a municipal official said.

The shooter - an 18-year-old man - was still inside the Jokela high school along with some students who had not managed to escape, said Heidi Hagman, assistant to the Tuusula municipality director.

She said the man had shot four people, and that "one of those shot is probably the principal."

Police confirmed the shooting at Jokela high school in Tuusula, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki, but said they could not give details.

"Ambulances and police cars are on standby," Senior Constable Tuomi Juola told The Associated Press.

The Ilta-Sanomat newspaper initially reported three people were killed, but later said only victim had died.

It was the first reported incident of a shooting at a Finnish school, where previously violent incidents usually involved knives but had never resulted in death.

More than 400 students aged 12 through 18 were enrolled at Jokela, Hagman said.

"Some of the pupils have managed to escape from the school, but others are still inside," Hagman said.