A gunman opened fire from a rooftop in the Finnish town of Hyvinkaa near Helsinki in the early hours of Saturday, killing an 18-year-old woman and wounding seven other people, police said. A 23-year-old police officer, who arrived at the scene soon after the police had been called, was among those injured.

A second person died in a hospital later. One of those injured in the attack is in critical condition.

"The man was found with two weapons ... including a hunting rifle," Detective Chief Inspector Markku Tuominen said after the 18-year-old man had been arrested. The suspect did not resist arrest and has no criminal record. His motive is unclear.

With its population of 5.4 million, Finland has 650,000 registered gun owners in a country with strong hunting traditions. In recent years, Finland has seen two deadly school shootings.

In 2008, a culinary student killed nine fellow students and a teacher before shooting himself at a vocational school in the western town of Kauhajoki. A year earlier, an 18-year-old killed six fellow students, a nurse and the principal at a high school in Tuusula, southern Finland.

Authorities have stepped up safety in schools, installing surveillance cameras and locks on classroom doors and training staff to deal with shootings.

In December 2009, a man shot four people dead in a shopping center in Espoo after knifing his ex-girlfriend to death. The man later killed himself.

ng/slk (AP, AFP; Reuters)