GERMANY WAS thrown into shock and mourning yesterday after a teenage gunman went on a shooting spree in which nine pupils and six adults were killed before he turned the gun on himself.
In one of the worst school shootings in the country’s history, the 17 year old, named locally as Tim Kretschmer, entered the Albertville secondary school near Stuttgart shortly after 9.30am and shot dead nine pupils, three teachers and one passerby. It is believed he had a grudge against his former school.
He then embarked on a two-hour-long attempted getaway that culminated in a deadly shoot-out with police. Two men, caught in the crossfire, suffered fatal injuries. Police said Kretschmer then shot himself.
“He went into the school with a weapon and carried out a bloodbath,” said regional police chief Erwin Hetger. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”
The attack immediately revived a debate about gun ownership in Germany, which despite strict controls has proved more susceptible than any other country apart from the US to the phenomenon of children being shot dead at their school desks.
German chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of a “horrific crime”, and the European Parliament in Strasbourg observed a minute’s silence.
The horror started when Kretschmer, dressed in black combat gear, entered class 10D’s room with a Beretta pistol and began firing. By the time police reached the school the bodies of eight girls, one boy and three teachers lay dead.
Although the shooting appeared indiscriminate, all except one of the victims were female. One of the teachers is believed to have thrown herself in front of a pupil in the hope of protecting her, and was shot dead.
“Don’t come into school, he’s killed everyone,” was how one survivor named Isabelle warned her boyfriend, 17-year-old Marcel Babel, not to enter the classroom. According to Bild newspaper, Kretschmer asked the pupils cowering under desks: “Are you not all dead yet?” before fleeing on foot.
But his rampage had not yet ended. Nearing the local psychiatric hospital, the teenager killed one of the staff. He then hijacked a car, telling the driver to “get me out of here”, and drove 40km (25 miles) to an industrial estate in Wendlingen.
Freeing his hostage, he ran to a VW car dealership and demanded a vehicle. Police cornered him on the forecourt. In the gunfire that ensued, a customer and VW employee were killed. At 12.15pm, almost three hours after it began, Kretschmer shot himself with the weapon police believe he took from his parents’ collection.