HELSINKI, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- The chairman of local city council and two local journalists were shot dead in eastern Finland's town of Imatra by a man with a rifle Saturday night, the police said on Sunday.
The killing appeared to have no political motive, the police said in a televised press conference.
A 23-year-old man arrived at the front of the well-known local restaurant Vuoksenvahti at midnight Saturday and opened fire. He used a licensed long-pipe rifle authorized for someone else, said the police.
One of the deceased was Tiina Wilen-Jappinen, chairman of the Imatra City Council, who according to the police was not an intended target. The two other victims were local journalists of whom identities were not unveiled. The three women had been out in the town together.
The alleged shooter had a background of violent crime, the police said, adding they had no knowledge of extremist thought or links associated with the killer.
The names of the two killed journalists were not published by the police.
The police dismissed social media reports claiming the victims were Russians. Imatra is located close to the Russian border.
Long pipe rifles are commonly licensed in Finland for hunting purposes.
