Ibrahim Shkupolli

Timeline

• 31 December 2009 — The Sello mall shooting occurred in the morning shortly after 10:08 local time at the Sello Prisma supermarket in Leppävaara district of Espoo, Finland.
• 31 December 2009 — A neighbor reported Shkupolli shot himself at 11:13.
• 31 December 2009 — Shkupolli was found dead in an apartment in Kirstinmäki, Espoo, in an apparent suicide.

Background

Ibrahim Shkupolli was a grocer and was identified as the gunman in the shooting rampage in Espoo, Finland.

He was born in Kosovska Mitrovica, SFR Yugoslavia, and resided in Finland since 1990. He entered Finland through Norway in 1990.

He had been married to a Kosovo Albanian woman and had three children. He also maintained an on-off relationship with a Finnish girlfriend both before and after the marriage. His relationship with the Finnish woman lasted for 18 years and broke down for the final time the previous year, when she told police he had threatened to kill her. A restraining order was granted by a local court and barred him from approaching both her and her job location.

In both of his former and present municipalities of residence, Mikkeli and Espoo, restraining orders had been imposed after his girlfriend filed charges about his behavior and numerous threats, including one to kill her. The order imposed by the court barred him from approaching both her and her job location.

He worked in a warehousing company that delivered to the Prisma supermarket chain. His work included organising deliveries to the Prisma shop.

The Finnish police speculated that Shkupolli’s ex-girlfriend was his main target. Investigators believed her killing had a “domestic” motive and that there had been a restraining order in place. They also described the incident as being linked to the relationship between her and the gunman.

Shkupolli was convicted of assault in 2001. He was also convicted of possession of a 7.65 mm hand gun and associated rounds of ammunition in 2003, and 9 x 18 mm cartridges in 2007. He also had possession of narcotics. He was also under investigation for being involved in a human trafficking ring that organized illegal immigration from the Balkans to Finland.

The Finnish Immigration Service rejected his application for Finnish citizenship due to these and other offenses, including unlawful threats and traffic violations.

The offence

The shooting rampage occurred at the Sello Prisma supermarket in the Sello shopping centre in Leppävaara district of Espoo.

Sello Prisma had opened in 2005 and was described as one of the largest malls in the Nordic region with over 170 stores. On the day of the shooting the mall contained between two and three thousand customers.

The shooting was believed to have been started after Ibrahim Shkupolli found that his ex-girlfriend had a lover at the grocery store where she worked. Shkupolli first killed her in her apartment before heading towards the mall.

The shooting began when the gunman entered the Prisma supermarket and began firing with a 9mm handgun. Preliminary reports indicated four fatalities at the mall: three men and one woman. The victims, aged 27, 40, 42 and 45, were employees of Prisma.

Shkupolli was seen walking into another shop where he disappeared, sparking a major manhunt which involved police helicopters. Witnesses described the gunman as calm when walking out of the grocery store in the mall immediately after the shooting.

It was believed that the ex-girlfriend’s lover was one of the four victims and that he had been shot twice in the head.

The first victim, the woman found in the apartment, was killed with a Smith & Wesson branded hunting knife. The body had a long and deep incised wound reaching the cervical spine. The apartment had no signs of struggle.

At the subsequent news conference, Chief Inspector Jukka Kaski said:

“The four victims in the shopping centre were, in a way, outsiders. It looks like the incident is linked to the fifth victim.”
“She seems to have been the gunman's main target and the whole shooting is tied up with the relationship between her and the gunman,”

A witness told Finnish radio about the immediate aftermath:

“There were loads of people who were crying, and many salespeople who were completely panicked,”

YLE reported that a witness told the broadcaster:

“The gunman was dressed in black and appeared to have opened fire at random, hitting one man in the head and a woman in the stomach.”

Police said the victims were shot on different floors: two were shot on the shop’s first floor and the other two on its second floor.

Investigation

Police were first notified about the shooting inside the Prisma grocery store at 1008 local time (0808 GMT) on Thursday.

Investigators believed the killing of Shkupolli’s ex-girlfriend had a “domestic” motive and that there had been a restraining order in place.

Chief Inspector Jukka Kaski stated that the shopping-centre killings were linked to the fifth victim.

Police evacuated and cordoned off the shopping centre and blocked off a nearby railway station.

Emergency services arrived on the scene including dozens of ambulances and several fire engines.

Arrest

There was no arrest reported. Shkupolli was found dead in an apartment in Kirstinmäki, Espoo, in an apparent suicide.

Sentencing

No trial, sentencing, or judicial outcome was reported.

Outcome

The victims at the mall included Prisma employees aged 27, 40, 42 and 45. An additional woman, identified as Shkupolli’s ex-girlfriend, was found dead in an Espoo apartment in connection with the case. Investigators said Shkupolli shot dead three men and a woman at the grocery shop inside the Sello shopping centre. The body of Shkupolli’s ex-girlfriend was later found at a flat in the city.

Shkupolli was found dead in an apartment in Kirstinmäki, Espoo, in an apparent suicide after police determined that he returned to his own home and turned the gun on himself.

Aftermath

The incident was described as Finland’s third major shooting in the past two years.

The gun used was described as a Czechoslovakian made 9mm CZ 75 pistol, manufactured in 1984. It was originally sold in Norway where the gun went missing due to an unsolved burglary case in 1990, and it was noted that how it ended to Shkupolli remains unknown.

Gun laws in Finland were discussed in relation to prior shootings, including a shooting rampage in Tuusula in November 2007 and a shooting at a college in September 2008. After the second attack, stricter rules on permits for pistols and revolvers were introduced, including that handgun permits would no longer be granted to first-time applicants and applicants must train for at least a year at a gun club before applying for a permit. All applicants were also stated to have to provide a note from a doctor about their mental health and sit an interview with police.

Other details

Victims and relationships

• Shkupolli’s ex-girlfriend was found dead in an Espoo apartment and was also an employee of Prisma.
• Investigators believed the ex-girlfriend was the gunman’s main target.
• The victims at the shopping centre were Prisma employees aged 27, 40, 42 and 45.

Gun and ammunition details

• The handgun used was described as a 9mm CZ 75 pistol manufactured in 1984.
• Shkupolli’s apartment was completely empty except for a mattress, a framed photo of his ex-girlfriend, 14 fully loaded magazines for his gun, and a bag containing additional 273 cartridges.
• Shkupolli shot himself with a gun.

Profile and prior conduct

Shkupolli had previous convictions for causing bodily harm and for illegal possession of a handgun, in 2003 and 2007. He was also stated to have possession of narcotics and to have faced several new charges.

Shkupolli worked for a warehousing company organising deliveries to the Prisma shop, and his employer did not notice anything out of the usual in his behaviour prior to the shootings.

Shkupolli had restraining orders imposed after his girlfriend filed charges about his behavior and numerous threats, including a threat to kill her. The order barred him from approaching both her and her job location.

He was thought to believe she had begun a relationship with one of the supermarket staff, and that this was the motive for his crimes.

Travel and residence

• He moved to Finland in 1990.
• He resided in Finland since 1990.
• He was born in Kosovska Mitrovica, SFR Yugoslavia.

Location details

• The shooting occurred at Sello Prisma supermarket in the Sello shopping centre in Leppävaara district of Espoo.
• The shopping centre was evacuated and cordoned off, and a nearby railway station was blocked off.
• Trains were not allowed to stop at the nearby Leppävaara railway station.
• Shkupolli was found dead in an apartment in Kirstinmäki, Espoo.
• The ex-girlfriend was found dead in an Espoo apartment in connection with the case.