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Heidelberg University shooting

Coordinates: 49°25′00″N 8°40′12″E / 49.41667°N 8.67000°E / 49.41667; 8.67000
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Heidelberg University shooting
Mensa at Campus of Heidelberg University in Neuenheimer Feld
LocationHeidelberg University, Neuenheimer Feld, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Coordinates49°25′00″N 8°40′12″E / 49.41667°N 8.67000°E / 49.41667; 8.67000
Attack type
Mass shooting
WeaponsDouble-barreled shotgun
Deaths2 (including the perpetrator)
Injured3
MotiveUnknown

On 24 January 2022, an 18-year-old male student carrying a double-barreled shotgun and a lever action rifle[1] entered a lecture hall of Heidelberg University in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, opening fire with the long-barreled firearm on the crowd.[2] He injured four people, with one woman later dying of her injuries.[1][3][4][5] The shooter then fled the scene and was later found dead by suicide.[4][6][7] The gunman's motives are reported to be unclear.[3]

Background

Germany has some of the strictest gun laws in Europe, and school shootings are rare. Anyone under 25 is required to pass a psychological evaluation before getting a gun licence.[8] The last school shooting in Germany that resulted in fatalities before the attack was the Winnenden school shooting in March 2009.

Shooting

Aerial view of Campus "Neuenheimer Feld"

The incident happened on Neuenheimer Feld, the campus of the medical faculty of Heidelberg University, which is located in the town of the same name in southwestern Germany.[1][7] The campus at Neuenheimer Feld, north of the Neckar, is mainly home to the natural science faculties and properties of the university hospital.[9] The university had initially opted to educate students virtually, but it resumed in-person learning in October 2021.[10]

The 18-year-old gunman entered a lecture hall, carrying a double-barreled shotgun and a lever action rifle,[1] and opened fire with the long-barreled firearm on the crowd of 30 students, which were participating in an organic chemistry class.[10][2][3] Authorities reported the shooter fired bullets across the amphitheatre "wildly".[11]

Police in Heidelberg said they had received seven calls within 43 seconds at 12:24 p.m., reporting the incident. At 12:30 p.m., three patrol crews were at the university.[9] The police quickly ruled out other perpetrators.[9]

The shooter injured four people, including a 23-year old[12] woman who was shot in the head[13] and shortly died afterwards at hospital.[4][1][5] The other victims suffered injuries in the face, back, and legs.[1] Two of the survivors were German women (the oldest being 21, the other 19 years old) while the third was a German man with Italian citizenship.[5][14][15] The shooter fled the scene and was later found dead in the area of the Botanical Garden nearby; his death was ruled by investigators to be a suicide.[4][6][7]

Investigation

Police have launched an operation investigating the shooting, warning students not to go near the area where the shooting happened.[16][1][17] Sniffer dogs patrolled the university grounds as the policemen carried out the operation.[10] Over 400 police officers were involved in the investigation.[1] Officers were spotted examined two firearms and a beige bag found in the near by Heidelberg University Botanical Garden close to the scene.[2][18] This was later confirmed by local authorities.[10]

The firearms used in the shooting were said to have been obtained illegally from abroad. Police found a receipt of the acquisition and are investigating which individual sold the shooter the weapons. The perpetrator had no possession permit for weapons under German law.[19]

Perpetrator

According to Mannheim Police Department president Siegfried Kollmar, the gunman was an 18-year-old male student from Mannheim, a city 19 kilometres from Heidelberg. He was enrolled as a biology student and was considered healthy, but according to Süddeutsche Zeitung, there are indications of a past mental illness.[9][20]

Police said the gunman was a German citizen with no previous criminal record. He also reportedly sent a text message on WhatsApp to his father[21] directly before the shooting, claiming "people have to be punished now" and demanding a burial at sea. He carried a backpack that contained 100 rounds of ammunition.[10]

The chief of Heidelberg's public prosecutor's office said it was too early to speculate on a possible motive for the gunman's actions.[3]

Reactions

The shooting was condemned by German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who described the news as "tear[ing his] heart apart."[2] The minister-president of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann and Thomas Strobl, the Minister of Interior of Baden-Württemberg shared their condolences with the victims and their families and thanked the police force for their work. Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Science Theresia Bauer visited the shooting site and met with the university rector Bernhard Eitel. State Minister of Education, Science and Culture of Schleswig-Holstein Karin Prien described the incident as "shattering".[13]

Heidelberg student union president Peter Abelmann said the students are "infinitely shocked. This is a disaster beyond anything you can imagine between lectures, exams and campus life".[22]

Misinformation

The incident was used by people in a targeted manner to exploit the crime for their own ends. Anonymous users have slandered a YouTuber as the alleged perpetrator of the shooting, who they alleged wanted to avenge the suffering of animals. The incident was given by tagesschau.de as an example of fake news after the shooting.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Germany: 1 killed, 3 injured in shooting at Heidelberg University 24.01.2022". Dw.com. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Scholz: 'Dismay' over fatal shooting at German university". Ctvnews.ca. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Junge Frau stirbt nach Amoklauf in Heidelberg" [Young woman dies after killing spree in Heidelberg]. Tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Ash, Sebastien; Fitzpatrick, Michelle. "One killed, three seriously wounded in German campus shooting; gunman dead". Times of Israel. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Oltermann, Philip (24 January 2022). "Gunman dead and several injured after shooting in Heidelberg". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b Halasz, Stephanie; Avramova, Nina. "Four injured, gunman dead, after shooting at Heidelberg University in Germany". CNN.Com. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  7. ^ a b c "Mutmaßlicher Amoklauf auf Uni-Gelände in Heidelberg: Was wir wissen - und was nicht" [Suspected killing spree on university grounds in Heidelberg: what we know - and what we don't]. SWR.de (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Heidelberg shooting: One dead in gun attack on German students". BBC News. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d Stroh, Kassian; Saul, Philipp; Scharfenberg, Nadeschda; Diesteldorf, Jan; Auel, Juri. "Heidelberg: Mutmaßlicher Amokläufer erschießt Studentin auf Uni-Campus" [Heidelberg: Suspected gunman shoots student on university campus]. Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Student opens fire at German university, killing one". France 24. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Heidelberg shooting: One dead in gun attack on German students". BBC News. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  12. ^ Carrel, Paul; Szymanska, Zuzanna (24 January 2022). "Student opens fire at German university, killing one". Reuters. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Heidelberg: Junge Frau erliegt nach Kopfschuss in Hörsaal ihren Verletzungen" [Heidelberg: Young woman succumbs to her injuries after being shot in the head in the lecture hall]. Der Spiegel (in German). 24 January 2022. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Student kills 1, wounds 3 in shooting at German university". Associated Press. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Gunman dead after killing 1, injuring 3 at university in Germany". euronews. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Gunman killed and several injured in shooting at German university". The Independent. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Several wounded in shooting at Germany's Heidelberg University". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  18. ^ AP (24 January 2022). "4 wounded in Heidelberg University shooting in Germany; gunman dead". ABC7 New York. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Heidelberg: Angreifer soll Waffen kurz zuvor im Ausland gekauft haben" [Heidelberg: The attacker is said to have bought weapons abroad shortly before]. Der Spiegel (in German). 24 January 2022. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Student killed as gunman opens fire at Germany's oldest university". ABC News. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  21. ^ Heidelberg: Ermittler über Amoklauf an der Universität [Heidelberg: Investigators swarm university] (video). Spiegel.de (in German). 24 January 2022. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  22. ^ Nilsson, Maja (24 January 2022). "Skjutning på universitet i Tyskland – minst en person dödad" [University shooting in Germany - at least one person killed]. SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  23. ^ tagesschau.de. "Nach Angriff in Heidelberg: Der angebliche "Veganshooter"". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 25 January 2022.
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