KAUHAJOKI, Finland - Police released details Wednesday about the victims of a school massacre in western Finland, saying eight women and two men were killed by the 22-year-old gunman.

They also confirmed the shooter was Matti Saari, a student at the school who was questioned by police a day before Tuesday's rampage about YouTube clips showing him firing a handgun. Saari was released Monday because police said they found no reason to keep him in custody.

The National Bureau of Investigation said all the women were students, while one of the men was a teacher and the other a student. The bureau said Saari also wounded an additional female student before shooting himself in the head.

Identification of the victims has been complicated because the victims were badly burned by fires that Saari started during his killing spree at the vocational college in Kauhajoki, a town of 14,000 residents, 290 kilometres northwest of Helsinki.

Police spokesman Urpo Lintula said Saari had acquired a permit for his weapon, a .22-caliber handgun, in August.

"With this weapon and plenty of ammunition, he came into the school yesterday morning and he also had a largish bag which apparently had flammable liquids or something to start fires," Lintula said.

Police said they arrived at the scene within 10 minutes of receiving the alarm. The gunman fired several shots at the officers, but none of them was hit.

The officers did not return fire, police spokesman Jari Neulaniemi said.

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