Finnish school shooter, Pa. teen texted

NORRISTOWN, Pa., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- A troubled American teenager communicated online with the Finnish teen responsible for shooting eight people at his school, a prosecutor confirmed Tuesday.

But Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor said Dillon Cossey, 14, of Plymouth Township, Pa., and Pekka-Eric Auvinen corresponded by instant messages, so the content cannot be retrieved, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Cossey pleaded guilty to planning a shootout at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School in an agreement requiring him to get psychiatric treatment.

Cossey told his attorney he had been in touch with the Finnish teen, discussing video games and the 1999 Columbine school shootings in Colorado.

Also Tuesday, the Internet teen networking site MySpace.com said it is cooperating with Finnish authorities investigating the recent school massacre. But the company said in a statement that it knows of no connection to Auvinen because a MySpace page, which has been taken down, proved to have been put up by an imposter.

Auvinen fatally shot himself himself Nov. 7 after killing eight others at Tuusula High School in Jokela, Finland.