Gunman kills at least 11 people at German school

Gunman kills at least 11 people at German school

By Hendrik Sackmann
Reuters | Wednesday, March 11, 2009; 8:00 AM

WINNENDEN, Germany (Reuters) - A gunman killed at least 11 people, mainly students, at a secondary school in southwest Germany on Wednesday, officials said.

It appeared to be the worst school shooting in the country in seven years.

The gunman, who German media reports said was dressed in black combat gear, had fled from the school in Winnenden, a town of 27,000 near Stuttgart, and was still on the loose.

"The suspect hasn't been caught yet," a police spokeswoman said.

At least 11 people had been killed, he said.

Helicopters were circling above the historic market town, which had been largely sealed off.


The Albertville-Realschule in Winnenden, a secondary school for students aged around 10 to 16, had been evacuated and rescue workers and fire fighters were at the scene.

Television pictures showed dozens of heavily-armed black-clad SWAT teams entering the two-storey white building.

"Police are coming through the whole time. They're obviously looking all over town for him," said Roberto Seifert, who works at a company neighboring the school. "We've never had anything like this," he told Reuters.

German media said the gunman was a former student at the school. Other reports said the suspect was a 17-year old, who had used weapons his parents legally held at home.

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.

Several school shootings have shocked Germany in past years. In 2006, a masked man wearing explosives and brandishing rifles opened fire at 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.

Wednesday's shooting followed a rampage in the United States on Tuesday in which a gunman shot dead 10 people then killed himself in southern Alabama.

Joachim Kersten, from the police academy in Muenster western Germany, suggested on N24 television that the news of the Alabama shooting might have encouraged the gunman in Germany.

"For someone on the verge of (wanting to commit such an act), there's nothing more appealing than such pictures," Kersten said. "Such people...are very interested in the media description of such events," he said, referring to the images of the Alabama shooting spree.

(Reporting by Holger Hansen, Dave Graham, Noah Barkin)

(Writing by Kerstin Gehmlich; Editing by Angus MacSwan)