Teen in local plot in touch with Finnish gunman

The Finnish teen who killed eight people and himself last week had communicated online with Dillon Cossey, the local youth who admitted to plotting a Columbine-style assault at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.

"He recognized the screen name and recalled having contact by email," said J. David Farrell, who represents Cossey, 14, of Plymouth Valley.

Farrell said Cossey was "very distressed to hear" that Pekka-Eric Auvinen, 18, of Tuusula, Finland, had gunned down six students, a nurse and the principal at his high school, located about 30 miles north of Helsinki.

Cossey told Farrell that Auvinen "gave no indication he was going to do anything violent," and that Cossey "offered nothing in the way of encouragement" to pursue violence. Auvinen killed himself after the shootings.

The teens shared an interest in a video game called "Hitman," Farrell said, adding that they may have also had a mutual obsession with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the students responsible for the Columbine high school massacre.

Farrell said he believed more information about the timing and extent of the communication would be available tomorrow.

This morning, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor said he planned to hold a news conference to discuss the results of a forensic search of Cossey's computer "to determine if the screen name from the suspect in Finland comes up."

Police seized the computer on Oct. 10, along with a 9 mm semiautomatic carbine, knives, live grenades, BB guns, swords, violent videos, and a bomb-making manual. Cossey, a home-schooled student who admitted his plans to attack Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, is awaiting a hearing to determine his treatment program, which could last until he turns 21.

His mother, Michele A. Cossey, is awaiting a Dec. 13 preliminary hearing on charges stemming from her sons' gun possession.

"I doubt whether this new information, even if true, would have much effect on our prosecution, but it could be helpful to the authorities in Finland to explain the conduct there," said Castor, who said he learned of the possible connection Saturday night through media reports.

Both Castor and Farrell said they had not been contacted by Finnish authorities.

"There appears to be a cadre of people who idolize Klebold and Harris from the Columbine massacre of which Cossy was one, and perhaps the person in Finland is another," said Castor.

Farrell said that he has reviewed internet material that "glorifies violence and deifies Klebold and Harris" and that his client had agreed to speak to officials about his "violent fantasies."

"I thought he could assist by helping professionals understand the dynamics of alienation and peer abuse," said Farrell.

The postings revealed a fascination with violence, but not a promotion of it, Farrell said.

"Is it surprising that kids absorb the violence that we throw at them?" Farrell asked.