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Winnenden school shooting

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Winnenden school shooting
LocationWinnenden, Germany
Coordinates48°52′07″N 9°23′56″E / 48.86861°N 9.39889°E / 48.86861; 9.39889
Date11 March 2009
9:33 am (UTC+1[1])
Attack type
School shooting, mass murder, murder-suicide[1]
Deaths16, including the perpetrator
PerpetratorTim Kretschmer

The Winnenden school shooting occurred on 11 March 2009 at a secondary school in Winnenden, Germany,[1][2] resulting in sixteen confirmed deaths, including the perpetrator, seventeen-year old Tim Kretschmer, who was a former student at the school.[1]

The shooting

Albertville school

A camouflaged gunman opened fire in the Albertville Realschule at approximately 09:30 (CET).[3] Eyewitness reports state that the gunman fired indiscriminately in the classrooms and the corridors.[4] The BBC reports that he moved from room to room, shooting his victims in the head.[5]

Nine students, two female teachers and one female student teacher were killed. The students were 14-15 years old, 8 of them female.[6]

After receiving an emergency call by a student at 09:33 local time, three officers reached the scene two minutes later and entered the school. The gunman shot at them and fled the building.[7]

Flight and Wendlingen shoot-out

The perpetrator fled the scene and killed a gardener of a nearby psychiatric institution in a park.

Large numbers of police officers secured the school building and searched for the gunman throughout Winnenden, without success.

At 12:04 he hijacked a car at a parking lot in Winnenden and reached Wendlingen, 40 km (25 miles) from Winnenden. When the car slid off the road, he fled by foot, leaving the car and its driver behind; the driver alerted police.[7] The gunman then entered a car showroom and killed one salesman and a customer. He emerged at about 12:30 and a shootout with police began; he wounded two police officers before he was wounded by police and then committed suicide.[8]

The perpetrator

Various media reports describe the suspect as seventeen-year old Tim Kretschmer, who had graduated from Albertville school one year earlier. It was reported locally that he was from the neighbouring municipality of Leutenbach.[9][10] He was described as unremarkable and frustrated. A former friend who did not wish to be named, described Kretschmer as a quiet student who had begun to withdraw from peers. He was an avid table tennis player and had planned on becoming a professional player. [6]

Police stormed the family house at about 10:00. The father of the perpetrator, a member of local gun club Schützenverein, legally owned 15 guns. One 9mm Beretta handgun was found missing along with several hundred rounds of ammunition.[7][11] Fourteen of the guns were kept in a gun safe, while the Beretta was kept in the bedroom.[12] The father may face prosecution should it turn out that the gun had not been locked away properly as required by law.[6]

Response

President Horst Köhler said he was "appalled and saddened" by the killings. Köhler and his wife expressed their condolences to the victims and their families and friends.[13] Chancellor Angela Merkel described the shootings as "incomprehensible". "It is unimaginable that in just seconds, pupils and teachers were killed - it is an appalling crime," she told reporters. "This is a day of mourning for the whole of Germany," she continued.[1] Baden-Würtemberg governor Günther Oettinger travelled to the scene of the crime by helicopter shortly after the news broke. Oettinger spoke of a "horrible and in no way explainable crime." He also expressed his condolences to the victims, students and families. "This has touched all of Baden-Württemberg. The school, the town, the future, education and raising children - to destroy these things like that is especially cruel."[13] The European Parliament held a minute of silence to honour the dead. An ecumenical Church service was held in Winnenden at 8:00 pm. A Protestant, a Catholic, and a Muslim cleric attended. 12 March was declared a national day of mourning in Germany.

Media Response

MTV and VIVA both cut programming and replaced it with music videos to remember those lost in the event. Both channels had a scrolling banner along the top informing people of the change which read: "Angesichts der tragischen Ereignisse in Winnenden ändert MTV/VIVA das aktuelle Programm. In Gedanken sind wir bei den Angehörigen der Opfer." (English: "Due to the tragic events in Winnenden, MTV/VIVA changes the current programming. Our thoughts are with the relatives of the victims.") VIVA also had a video loop with local presenter Klaas along with phone numbers to call.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "'German school gunman 'kills 15'". BBC News. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  2. ^ "German Police Say School Shooting Kills at Least Nine". Deutsche Welle. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  3. ^ "How German school shooting unfolded". BBC. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  4. ^ "Ainakin kymmenen kuoli kouluammuskelussa Saksassa" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  5. ^ Hughes, Dominic (2009-03-11). "Sad scene at German massacre school". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  6. ^ a b c Tim K. - der Junge ohne Eigenschaften, spiegel.de, 11 March 2009.Template:De icon
  7. ^ a b c Protokoll eines Massenmords, spiegel.de, 11 March 2009.Template:De icon
  8. ^ Das wortlose Töten des Tim K., sueddeutsche.de, 11 March 2009. Template:De icon
  9. ^ "German school massacre gunman dies in police shootout after chase". Times Online. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  10. ^ "17-Jähriger läuft Amok – 16 Tote – Täter Tim K. erschossen" (in German). Tages Anzeiger Panorama. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  11. ^ Teenage Gunman Killed by Police After German School Shooting, Deutsche Welle, 2009-03-11, retrieved 2009-03-11
  12. ^ Schwarz wie der Tod , sueddeutsche.de, 11 March 2009.Template:De icon
  13. ^ a b "POLITICAL REACTIONS: Merkel 'Deeply Shaken' By School Shootings". Der Spiegel. 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
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