- Title: GERMANY: Teenage gunman attacks school in Winnenden killing at least 15 people
- Date: 12th March 2009
- Summary: WENDLINGEN AM NECKAR, GERMANY (MARCH 11, 2009) (REUTERS) WIDE OF AREA WHERE SUSPECT WAS SHOT VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS AT THE SCENE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) INKA BUCKMUELLER, SPOKESPERSON FOR ESSLINGEN POLICE, SAYING "Going by the information that we currently have, the suspect who carried out the shooting in Winnenden, came here with a car. A further shooting took place at a car showroom where two bystanders were killed and two police officers were injured. The suspect also died as a result of this shooting. At the moment I cannot tell you any more." BUCKMUELLER BEING INTERVIEWED POLICE CAR PEOPLE STANDING AND WATCHING
- Embargoed: 27th March 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Education
- Reuters ID: LVAA4SCZAB09R2X9CZYIVEJGABHU
- Story Text: Teenage gunman kills 15 people at a German school and is later killed in a shoot-out with police.
A 17-year old gunman went on a shooting spree at his former school in southwest Germany on Wednesday (March 11), killing up to 15 people before dying himself in a shootout with police, authorities said.
The former student, dressed in black combat gear, entered the school in Winnenden, a town of 27,000 near Stuttgart, at around 9.30 a.m. (0830 GMT) and began firing.
He killed nine students and three teachers at the school, as well as one person at a nearby clinic, before fleeing with a hostage in a car. He was killed in a shootout with police.
Two additional passers-by were killed and two policemen seriously injured in the shootout, bringing the total death toll to 16 including the gunman.
A German government spokesman in Berlin said he was "deeply shocked" by the incident. Chancellor Angela Merkel would make a statement at 4 p.m. (1500 GMT).
The shooting is the latest to shock Germany in recent years. In 2006, a masked man armed with rifles and explosives attacked a school in the western town of Emsdetten, wounding at least 11 people before committing suicide.
In April 2002, Germany suffered its worst school shooting when a gunman killed 17 people, including himself, at a high school in the eastern city of Erfurt.
Police said the gunman had entered two classrooms at the Albertville-Realschule in Winnenden and probably opened fired at pupils indiscriminately.
The secondary school is for students aged around 10 to 16. It was evacuated and rescue workers and fire fighters were at the scene. Helicopters circled above the historic market town, which had been largely sealed off.
Television pictures showed dozens of heavily-armed black-clad SWAT teams entering the two-storey white school building.
German media reports said the suspect had used weapons his parents legally held at home, although police could not confirm this.
Germany has strict weapons laws, with gunholders having to fulfill certain criteria on age and weapons expertise to obtain a license for firearms.
A market town whose origins stretch back to the 12th century, Winnenden is the hometown of German firm Kaercher, a maker of high pressure cleaners. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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