Man injured in police firing in Kotka

A man sustained bullet injuries when police fired gunshots at his leg in Kotka on Friday night, reported the national broadcasting corporation Yle quoting police sources.

The incident took place in Alakylä area, about 13 kilometres north of the Kotka city centre at about 11:00pm when police officials arrived in the area responding to a domestic alarm. Police claimed the man threatened them with a weapon and in retaliation police fired gunshots at him.

The bullet-riddled person was taken to a hospital immediately after the incident. The physician on duty said his condition was not critical.

One police officer was also treated in hospital for injuries sustained during the incident.

“To overcome his resistance, police shot the man in the leg,” the Yle report quoted a statement of the Southeast Finland Regional Police Department as saying.

The district prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the incident.

Police shootings occur nearly once a month in Finland, but they are rarely fatal, said the Yle report, adding that Finnish police fire their guns in the line of duty about 10 times a year on an average.

Seven people have been killed in police firing since the turn of the millennium, most recently near Tampere in April.