SCHOOL TRAGEDY 18 Killed in German School Shooting, 6 Others Injured, Police Say
B O N N, Germany, April 26 — Eighteen people were killed in a high school in the German city of Erfurt today when an armed former pupil stormed into the building and opened fire in Germany's worst school shooting incident. Six others were also injured in the rampage, according to the police.
The drama began this morning at around 11 a.m. local time when an expelled student stormed into Gutenberg High School and opened fire. Police commandos rushed to the scene in an attempt to free students trapped inside the building.
The 19-year-old gunman killed himself, Erfurt police chief Manfred Grube told a news conference today, saying the situation "was over." "He took his own life, apparently when he saw that there was no way out for him," Grube said.
But the ordeal shook the nation as local television stations broadcast an image of a sign reading "Help" in German from a school window as the drama unfurled.
Police initially said two gunmen were involved in the shooting, but later clarified that there was only one assailant involved. Early reports indicated the dead included three students, a police officer and 13 adults, several of whom were believed to be teachers, police sources said.
The school killings came just days after the third anniversary of the Columbine High School killings in Colorado. Thirteen people died in the April 20, 1999, massacre.
Local media carried reports of distraught witnesses who said they saw a man dressed all in black roaming the hallways with a gun. "I heard shooting and thought it was a joke," 13-year-old Melanie Steinbrueck, told the Associated Press, chocking back tears. "But then I saw a teacher dead in the hallway in front of Room 209 and a gunman in black carrying a weapon."
"The guy was dressed all in black — gloves, cap, everything was black," Juliane Blank, 13, told the Associated Press. "He must have opened the door without being heard and forced his way into the classroom." "We ran out into the hallways. We just wanted to get out," she said.
Reports of the incident throughout the day were confused and local radio cited a pupil as saying that a fellow pupil pulled a gun as he was about to sit a math exam, but the report remains unconfirmed.
As distraught parents rushed to the scene, a police official with a megaphone urged parents to register their children's names before leaving the scene. Several teenage students were being treated for shock in local hospitals, medical officials said.
Groups of dazed and shocked students huddled in the street crying and calling their friends and family on mobile phones. A local courtroom has been set up as a meeting point for parents and children, German media reported.
Today's attack was the second in two months. In February, a 22-year-old German who had recently lost his job shot his old high school's principal in a school outside Munich before blowing himself up.
Germany has strict gun control laws, but experts say illegal weapons from eastern Europe are available across the country.