Two journalists and a mayor killed in Finland shooting

Three women – a local politician and two journalists – were shot dead with a rifle outside a restaurant in Finland at around midnight on Saturday night, police say.

A 23-year-old local man with a criminal record was detained at the scene in the small Finnish town of Imatra, the Southeastern Finland police department said.

It said the motive for the killings remained unclear.

“At the moment, it looks like the victims were chosen at random,” DI Saku Tielinen told a news conference.

One of the victims, Tiina Wilén-Jäppinen, was chairwoman of Imatra city council while the other two women were journalists, the police said.