Myyrmanni bombing

The Myyrmanni bombing took place on October 11, 2002, in Myyrmäki, Vantaa, Finland, in Greater Helsinki, at the Myyrmanni shopping mall.^[1] A bomb was hidden in a backpack, which exploded in the central square of the shopping center on top of a metal waste container, located in the center of the square, at 19:36. Five people were instantly killed, including the bomber. The waste container was shattered, and fragments of the structure increased the amount of shrapnel and the devastation. The explosion ruined 400 m² of the shopping center, carved a 10-cm deep crater in the floor where the waste container had stood and blew the glass dome over the square up and outwards from the mall. In total seven died, including two teenagers and a seven-year-old. 159 were injured, including 10 children. 66 victims required hospitalization with the remainder treated and released at the scene.^[2] The bombing took place during the pre-weekend shopping surge late on a Friday afternoon, with 1,000–2,000 people in the shopping center, including many children who had come to see a clown performance.^[3]

The bomb carrier was Petri Erkki Tapio Gerdt (April 17, 1983 – October 11, 2002), a 19-year-old chemical engineering student at the Espoo-Vantaa Institute of Technology (EVTEK). Described as quiet and somewhat withdrawn, Gerdt was an amateur bomb-maker with no known close friends. He participated in basketball and had no prior criminal record. Gerdt died in the explosion he caused. ^[3] He was also an active member of Kotikemia (lit. "home chemistry"), an online forum for amateur chemists.^[3] The moderator of Kotikemia was acquitted of responsibility in court. The explosive device was likely constructed in Gerdt's apartment. It was a 1.5 liter plastic bottle that contained ammonium nitrate and nitromethane with shotgun pellets and weighed about 2–3 kilograms (4.4–6.6 lb). Investigations revealed that some kind of timer was also used.^[2][4][5] Kotikemia was shut down by the authorities following the bombing.

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation investigated the event as six accounts of murder, one account of aggravated criminal mischief and one account of an explosives offence. The case was closed in January 2003 without any indictments as Gerdt was the sole suspect. Gerdt's motive for the bombing was not ascertained during the investigation.^[4][5] There was no evidence found that Gerdt had links to any outside groups or to any international terrorist organizations.^[1]

Gerdt's parents went to work at the morning as usual and didn't notice anything strange in their son's behaviour. Gerdt left home from Tikkurila in the morning before noon. He left his mobile phone powered off in a shelf, where it was later found by the police. He also left his computer powered on, on standby.^[6]

• 12:12: Gerdt boarded a bus on line 84 travelling between Tikkurila and Mellunmäki. The investigation did not find what he was doing and where he was going during the next four hours. There has been speculation that he had hid parts of the bomb supplies in forests near Mellunmäki and also worked on his bomb. There are World War I era fortifications in Mellunmäki where it is easy to hide objects into. Gerdt also possibly visited Itäkeskus or other places in Helsinki with the Helsinki Metro.^[6]
• 16:10: Gerdt boarded a bus on line 84K at the Mellunmäki metro station and returned to Tikkurila. He probably never returned home after this.^[7]
• 17:10: There was a confirmed sighting of Gerdt at Asematie in Tikkurila. An eyewitness saw Gerdt walk towards the Tikkurila railway station and the bus station next to it.^[7]
• 17:15: Gerdt boarded a bus on line 50 or a bus on line 55 at 17:18. Both of them travelled from Tikkurila to Myyrmäki.^[7]
• 18:00: Gerdt arrived at Myyrmäki. There are no confirmed records of his movements between 18:00 and 19:20.
• 19:00 to 19:20: There are eyewitness sightings of Gerdt at Myyrmanni and near it. He went to the public toilet on the second floor to work on his bomb. A ten-year-old boy saw him work on his bag and gunshot from below the toilet stall door. The boy first thought the noise came from a belt buckle but later realised it had been gunshot.
• 19:20: A security camera made the first confirmed recording of Gerdt at Myyrmanni. However the cameras did not record the site of the explosion.
• 19:30 to 19:35: There are unclear eyewitness sightings about Gerdt's movements. The bag containing the bomb was by his legs at this point. In front of the nearby McDonald's restaurant was a clown dealing out balloons, played by a volunteer employee of the Project Hope foundation. There were plenty of children watching the performance.^[8]
• 19:30 to 19:35: There are unclear eyewitness sightings about Gerdt's movements. According to criminal investigation, the bomb was on his lap when it exploded, about a metre above the floor, with Gerdt standing up at the time of the explosion.
• 19:35: The bomb exploded in Gerdt's lap, killing him instantly. Gerdt's body was flung out a distance of 15 metres and smashed against the window of an Intersport sports equipment store. As well as Gerdt, the bomb killed six people and wounded hundreds of others, some of them severely. The first emergency call was made at 19:36:49. Immediately after the explosion, the shops at Myyrmanni were closed and the intact survivors at the shopping centre were guided outside. There was no real panic at the shopping centre according to eyewitnesses.^[9]
• 19:38: The first emergency rescue units arrived at the scene. According to first information, the explosion was thought to have resulted from an exploded gas bottle at the clown performance.^[10] The first police patrol that arrived on the scene found Petri Gerdt's driving licence on the floor near the check-out counters at the Citymarket grocery store. The licence proved to be a conclusive clue and was sent to the Tikkurila police station and from there to the Finnish Central Criminal Police.^[11] A total of 59 wounded, of which eight were children, were transported by ambulance and Medi-Heli helicopter to the Töölö, Meilahti, Jorvi, Peijas and Hyvinkää hospitals as well as the Children's Clinic Hospital, and during the next four days 27 patients were operated in 49 operations.^[8][12]
• 20:04: The Finnish News Agency STT published the first news about the explosion at Myyrmanni. YLE made a special broadcast about the event.^[12]
• 20:50: The last wounded patients had been transferred to hospitals. Criminal investigators arrived at the scene. As the explosion hinted at terrorism, an investigator from the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (SUPO) also visited the scene.^[13] Suspicion of a bomb strike awoke when steel gunshot was found in the wounds in the patients transferred to hospitals.^[11]
• 21:00: Finnish authorities held the first public information event at Myyrmanni.
• 21:30: A critical aid point was opened at the Kilteri School near Myyrmanni.
• 22:00: A Kymmenen uutiset news broadcast made the first announcement that the event had been a bomb explosion. Confirmation of this reached the news just before the broadcast was made.^[10]
• 23:10: Rescue operations were ended. The case moved on to the police.

• 01:30: The responsibility for the investigation moved from the Vantaa police to the National Bureau of Investigation.
• 03:00: The police announced they suspect the explosion had been a deliberate strike instead of an accident.
• 11:30: The Lipponen Cabinet held an emergency meeting about the event.^[14]
• After 12:00: Criminal investigators used a DNA investigation to find out the identity of the bomber. Directly after this the police performed a search at Gerdt's home in Tikkurila. The police confiscated Gerdt's computer, instructions for the bomb, gunshot and chemicals needed for the bomb from his room. Gerdt's school and workplace were also searched.^[13]
• 13:00: A memorial service was held for the victims at the Myyrmäki Church. The service was attended by President of Finland Tarja Halonen and her husband Dr. Pentti Arajärvi, Prime Minister of Finland Paavo Lipponen, Interior Minister Ville Itälä, Minister of Basic Services Eva Biaudet and Minister of Culture Kaarina Dromberg.^[15]

A radio and television news broadcast revealed that the perpetrator of the Myyrmanni bombing had been the 19-year-old chemical engineering student Petri Gerdt from Vantaa, who was also killed himself in the explosion.^[12]

Investigation of the event continued with technical investigations at the scene. The police reconstructed the event inside Myyrmanni, trying to find the precise location of the bomb at the time of the explosion. On the same day, the National Bureau of Investigation published a computer-generate image of a shop window dummy with Petri Gerdt's face. The dummy had been dressed in similar clothes as Gerdt had been wearing at the time of the explosion. The bureau hoped to gain more information about Gerdt's movements before the explosion with this image.^[16] The image led to much better clues, and Gerdt's movements could be tracked as far back as the previous Thursday.^[13]

The flag at the Espoo-Vantaa Technical University of Applied Sciences next to Myyrmanni was lowered to half-staff and there was a moment of silence at the school. The Ministry of the Interior suggested a global half-mast day on Tuesday 15 October throughout the country.^[16]

During the next week the police arrested four youths who had been discussing explosives at the same Internet forums as Gerdt, and their homes were also searched.^[13] One of the arrested was a 17-year-old high school student from Hämeenlinna who was using the nickname "Einstein". The police investigated whether he had been taken part in constructing the bomb, in which case he would have been guilty of assistance to a severe act of destruction.^[17] In June 2003 the boy using the nickname "Einstein" and two other boys were sentenced to fines for crimes related to explosives, which apparently had no connection to the Myyrmanni bombing.^[18]

On October 15, 2002, Finland observed a national day of mourning in response to the tragic events. Government buildings were closed, a moment of silence was observed in Parliament, and flags across the country were flown at half-staff to honor the victims.^[1] The shopping center was closed for repairs for nearly three weeks before re-opening later in October.^[19]

The bombing was especially shocking for Finland and the other Nordic countries, where these types of attacks are extremely rare.^[3]

Petri Gerdt's father, Armas, wrote the book Petrin matka Myyrmanniin (Petri's Road to Myyrmanni) about the incident.^[6]

• Petrin matka Myyrmanniin, Suomalainen.com bookstore

60°15′37″N 24°51′12″E / 60.26028°N 24.85333°E / 60.26028; 24.85333