An old woman was killed and two other men wounded in a shooting incident in the city of Kuopio, central Finland on Friday evening.

An eyewitness said that the gunman suddenly rushed into the market square in a car at around 6 p.m. local time and fired in the air with a shotgun. Then he shot with a pistol at the old woman's head, who was trying to stop him. The woman died of the wound later in hospital. Two men were also wounded and sent to hospital, but their injuries were not life-threatening. One of them was the woman victim's husband and the other was their foreign friend, who was on a visit to Finland, reported Finnish media.

The shooting suspect tried to flee the scene in the car, but crashed into parked vehicles three times. After the third collision police detained the gunman without resistance. A woman in a car was also hurt by the crash.

The middle-aged gunman was drunk and therefore would not be able to be inquired until Saturday morning, according to local police.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2009)