Court jails man for Lahti restaurant shooting

A court has sentenced a 22-year-old man to four years and 10 months in prison for attempted manslaughter and an aggravated firearms offence after a shooting in a Lahti restaurant, Yle reported.

The Päijät-Häme District Court found that Anton Kalervo Salmela shot another man in the side from close range at a restaurant in the Liipola neighbourhood in May 2026. The shooting remained an attempted killing because the bullets did not pierce the victim’s skin. The charge said the gun’s performance was inconsistent and that it was by chance the victim was not killed. Other people were in the restaurant at the time.

The court also convicted Salmela of an aggravated firearms offence, although police never found the weapon. Salmela denied being at the restaurant, shooting the victim or possessing a firearm.

The court identified him as the shooter based on CCTV footage, eyewitness accounts and fingerprints on a drinking glass. Investigators found .22-calibre bullets at the scene, which the National Bureau of Investigation’s forensic laboratory said were used in firearms. The court said the shooter could not have been certain the weapon was incapable of causing death.

As well as the prison sentence, Salmela must pay the victim 4,260 euros in compensation for pain and suffering, among other costs. The judgment is not final. Salmela has expressed dissatisfaction with the entire ruling.