Lasnamäe Shooter was Ex-Soldier in French Foreign Legion
The perpetrator who shot a 21-year-old man in Tallinn's Lasnamäe district two weeks ago, later taking his own life, had served for seven years as a soldier in the French Foreign Legion.
The 32-year-old man, whose name is not being released, used a sawed-off shotgun to kill a bystander at a Lasnamäe bus stop on June 3. The shooter and the victim were not acquainted. After the murder, the shooter rushed to nearby field and killed himself, ETV reported.
Among the the shooter's personal belongings, police found a paper indicating suicide plans. They also discovered that his blood alcohol level was 2.5 per mil, signifying heavy intoxication. He was carrying 200 euros in cash.
Police speculate that he may have spared the young woman who was with the victim at the bus stop because his weapon could only hold two rounds and he was saving the second for himself.
The killer reportedly had no financial problems, earning a wage above the national average as an unskilled worker. He had spent two years in Estonia after returning from the French service.
Those who knew the shooter said he was a troubled man who was having "problems with alcohol and the opposite sex." They also said man had a habit of trying to break up fights between people.
The police are still looking into whether the shooter's motive could have been an attempt to stop a conflict between the victim and the young woman, and whether his pulling the trigger could have been the accidental result of a scare tactic gone wrong.