Finland gunman 'kills students' : BBC

Police said the gunman, thought to be a 22-year-old student, was then disarmed, but local media say he shot himself, BBC reported.

He was carrying an automatic weapon and wearing a ski mask when he entered the college in Kauhajoki, reports said.

Last November a student shot dead eight people at a school in Tuusula. Gun ownership in Finland is among the highest in the world.

Media reports said the shootings began Tuesday just before 1100 local time (0800 GMT), when some 200 students were in the building.

A BBC correspondent in Finland said a gunman dressed in black was seen at the school, apparently carrying an automatic weapon.  

A man with a ski mask was seen entering the building with a large bag, national broadcaster YLE reported. Shots were fired soon afterwards.

Police ordered an evacuation and called for reinforcements, with local reports saying the country's heavy weapons squad was heading to Kauhajoki.

The gunman remained at large within the college grounds for some time before police apparently restrained and disarmed him.

"I just heard from the police radio that the shooter has been caught. He no longer has a gun," a police spokesman told the AFP news agency.

But hospital sources and the mayor of the town were later quoted as saying the attacker had turned his gun on himself.

There were reports of a fire at the site and of at least one injured girl leaving the school covered in blood, our correspondent says.