Pekka-Eric Auvinen (4 June 1989 – 7 November 2007), also known by the online aliases "NaturalSelector89" and "Sturmgeist89", was a Finnish mass murderer who perpetrated the Jokela school shooting on 7 November 2007. He killed eight people and wounded one before fatally shooting himself. The attack is the second-deadliest school shooting in Finnish history.
Born in Helsinki, Auvinen experienced depression, anxiety, and prolonged bullying during adolescence. He became active online under several aliases, where he posted videos and writings expressing admiration for previous mass shootings, particularly the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, as well as anti-religious and socially critical views. Shortly before the attack, he published a manifesto titled Natural Selector's Manifesto, in which he described the shooting as an act of terrorism and justified it as a form of "natural selection."
The Jokela school shooting inspired numerous copycat threats and planned attacks both in Finland and internationally. Auvinen has since been cited as an influence by several later attackers and individuals who plotted school shootings.
Personal life
Family and school
Auvinen was born on 4 June 1989 in Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland. His father, a musician, named him after the guitarists Pekka Järvinen and Eric Clapton. Auvinen grew up in a stable family consisting of his parents and a younger brother. His parents reportedly became concerned about the violent content of some of the video games he played and confiscated and sold them. The family had lived in the same home for a decade. During his early school years, Auvinen developed normally and had friends. However, during adolescence, his academic performance declined and his social circle became increasingly limited. Auvinen reportedly had no friends in his later school years, although he discussed firearms and the possibility of carrying out a school shooting with others.
Between December 2006 and January 2007, Auvinen's parents tried to get him referred to a psychiatric outpatient clinic for his depression and anxiety, but the offer was refused due to his perceived mild symptoms. Instead, treatment using antidepressants was recommended to Auvinen's parents before any attempts to hospitalize him. Auvinen would go on to tell his online acquaintance that he would not be making it to military service the following months, leaving several other cryptic and homicidal messages with her the day before his attack. Auvinen had irregularly taken SSRIs one year prior to his death. Auvinen was frequently bullied at school and school students reported changes in his behavior to a youth worker, saying he acted threateningly and remarked that they would die in "a white revolution". One of his teachers described him as a militant radical who was interested in both far-right and far-left movements. Auvinen had apparently been planning the shooting since at least early March 2006 before he met any of the YouTubers or online gamers who had later been blamed for the massacre.
Online activity
Auvinen had a number of online accounts, including two YouTube accounts under the aliases of "Sturmgeist89" and "NaturalSelector89" on which he uploaded videos about school shootings and violent incidents, including the Columbine High School massacre. In one of Auvinen's videos, he wears a T-shirt bearing the slogan "Humanity is Overrated"; he also posted videos attacking religion. Shortly before the shooting, Auvinen posted a video of him displaying his weapon and shooting at apples. Before the attack, he posted his final video titled "Jokela High School Massacre - 11/7/2007". The video began with a picture of the Jokela High School before it faded to red-filtered pictures depicting the himself holding a firearm. The song "Stray Bullet" by KMFDM is played in the background throughout the entire video.
Several months before the shooting, an American YouTube, TJ Kirk, called for authorities to investigate accounts with content on school shootings, including Auvinen's. Auvinen often liked playing violent video games, such as Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, and Battlefield 2.
Jokela school shooting
Weaponry
After Auvinen received his gun licence in October 2007, he purchased a .22-calibre SIG Sauer Mosquito and 500 rounds of ammunition on 2 November 2007, five days before the shooting. Auvinen also used two-stroke engine fuel during the shooting in a failed attempt to set the school on fire.
File package
Before setting off on his rampage, Auvinen uploaded a file package containing twenty-one media files to the Internet. It contained pictures of himself, his firearm, Jokela High School, one undisclosed music file, and three documents in Finnish and English.
Natural Selector's Manifesto
The longest text was the Natural Selector's Manifesto, in which Auvinen explained his thoughts and rationale behind the shooting. He emphasized that he wanted his attack to be seen as not a mere school shooting but an outright act of terrorism. The text is an amalgamation of Auvinen's favourite philosophers, including Plato and Friedrich Nietzsche, and also contains references to the Industrial Society and Its Future and Eric Harris, one of the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre. Auvinen proclaimed himself a "natural selector" who sought to eliminate what he considered weaknesses in humanity. In the manifesto, he refers to his attack as a war against the "weak-minded masses". Auvinen's manifesto contains Nazi and ecofascist themes.
Shooting
After entering Jokela High School at approximately 11:42, Auvinen began the attack by fatally shooting students in the ground-floor corridor, killing six people within the first four minutes, including the school nurse. The head teacher ordered students and staff to barricade themselves in classrooms over the public address system, while Auvinen continued firing throughout the school, killing two more students, attempting unsuccessfully to ignite two-stroke engine fuel he had poured in the corridors, and firing into the canteen and at barricaded classrooms without causing additional fatalities. At 11:57, he fatally shot head teacher Helena Kalmi outside the school after she attempted to persuade him to surrender. He later entered a classroom, where he threatened students but left without shooting anyone, and subsequently fired at responding police officers through school windows without hitting them. At 12:04, Auvinen shot himself in a restroom, ending the attack. He was transported to hospital, where he died later that evening from his self-inflicted gunshot wound. Twelve other people were injured by flying glass or received a sprained ankle during the shooting.
Legacy
In Finland
The Jokela school shooting inspired a number of copycat threats in Finland. In the days following the shooting, Finnish police responded to multiple school threats, arresting a 16-year-old who had posted a "Maaninka massacre" video on YouTube. The 2008 Kauhajoki school shooting, although initially suspected to have known Auvinen, was ultimately found to have no confirmed connection. In 2024, a Finnish soldier was arrested and later convicted for plotting a school shooting inspired by Auvinen.
International
Internationally, Auvinen and the Jokela school shooting have been referenced by several perpetrators or would-be attackers, including two Swedish teenagers arrested for plotting a school attack, the 2024 Eskişehir stabbing, the 2024 Abundant Life Christian School shooting, the 2025 Annunciation Catholic Church shooting, and the 2026 Calama school stabbing.