School Shooting in Germany!

[Captain Rooster]

NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES

ERFURT, Germany, April 26 - A recently expelled student, dressed all in black, went on a bloody rampage in a German high school Friday, killing 13 teachers, a secretary, two students and a police officer before shooting himself as commandos closed in. "He took his own life, apparently when he saw that there was no way out for him," said Manfred Grube, police chief in the eastern city of Erfurt.

_____________________

These school killings stand as more evidence that our world is at risk. I have always believed that mankind is developing into a more educated, understanding species. With all of the disgusting occurrences that have been invading the human race lately, I think that we are instead reverting back to our most primal, ignorant form.

I teach at a middle school, and I look at the kids, wondering who may snap one day.

Sad but true.


<img src=http://www.ltrooster.homestead.com/files/rooster.gif>

[Lulu]

it is truly sad that we have to live like this. we can't even go to school anymore without fearing for our lives.

but it isn't all the kids faults. i have seen teachers pushing students to their edges, and i am really suprised that the kids don't snap. i knew if that was me in some of those situations, i wouldn't be able to handle it. and i'm always scared the next day that i might not come back alive.

it is so horrible that we must revert to violence to solve our problems.

<IMG SRC="http://rfnetearth2ron.50megs.com/images/rfnetlulu.jpg">

thankyou sooo much to Earth2Ron for making it and Gameguy for figuring it out.

[furie]

it almost sounds like he was part of the trenchcoat mafia, with the way they described his cloths. Is this a kid coping US culture as it is portrayed on European TV?

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Thanks Fallon!
<a href="aim:goim?screenname=furie1335&message=You_are_Number_6">IM Me </a>

[DroopyGirl]

Is this a kid coping US culture as it is portrayed on European TV?


In some wierd way that's kinda true.. alot of kids here think that it's totally cool to dress like a 'gangsta' or whatever.. just cause there seems to be alot of that in the US..

I guess we will always be trying to copy the US..

<img src="http://members.hometown.aol.com/droopy106/images/lyasig2.jpg">
<p><b>Thanx for the sig brodie ::kisss::</b>
<i>"Never again
will I have to be down"</i>

[erole]

The story is even more interesting: <P>
The guy (19) waltzed into the school, entered a classroom, and sat down in a chair to take a math test. You would think the teacher would see a person who does not belong in their classroom. This kid was kicked out of the school, how the hell did no one notice him in the school? <P>
I'm still in school for education, but I've taught private middle school, and pre-kindergarten and kindergarten before. I see the problem as being a disconnection with the family unit. I'm not talking about divorce, or single mom's or anyhting, I'm talking about a parent(s) who have no idea what having a child is about. Raising a child is a full time job. Even if you work and don't see your child that much, it is still a full time job. I'll bet everything this kid had parents who were not involved in their child's life enough. Parents who let him

[erole]

From:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/743964.asp

...Officials and acquaintances described Steinhaeuser as a gun enthusiast and expert marksman...A former schoolmate, Isabell Hartung, described the gunman as intelligent and well-liked by his peers, but said he often fought with teachers and had "bad relations with his parents."

...sad, but I saw it coming.
...and how about the teacher who put his life on the line. The man is a hero.

[Misteriosa]

here is another one...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/11/germany.school.shooting/index.html

WINNENDEN, Germany (CNN) -- A gunman dressed in military gear killed 16 people Wednesday in a shooting spree in Germany before he was shot dead by police, police spokeswoman Renate Roesch told CNN.


The body of a victim is covered with a blanket after the shooting at the Albertville Realschule.

Tim Kretschmer, 17, began his rampage at a school where he used to be a student in Winnenden, a small town near Stuttgart.

"The suspect broke into the school. He went into the classroom and shot wildly around himself and left the building and fled on foot," Hans Ulrich Stuiber, another police spokesman, said.

Three teachers and ten students were killed at the Albertville-Realschule Winnenden, Roesch said. The shooting, which began around 9:30 a.m., lasted about two minutes, police said.

On his way out of the school, the gunman killed a person who was working in a hospital nearby, then hijacked a car, taking an occupant hostage.

He drove to the nearby town of Wendlingen, kicking the hostage out of the vehicle on the way, said Leo Parzinger of the Wendlingen police.

He then killed two more people before being killed himself in a shootout with police, authorities said.

At least seven people were injured in the shootings -- five people in Winnenden and two police officers in Wendlingen -- Roesch added. She was unable to say how serious the injuries were.

The families of the dead have been informed and are receiving counseling, she said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to make a statement about the incident later in the day, her office said.

About 1,000 students attend the school where the killings began.

At least 10 dead in two-town Alabama shooting spree
Authorities sealed off the town of Winnenden and launched an intense manhunt for the gunman after the school shootings. Police said the man was about 1.80m (5'11") and heavily armed.

"It is a small town, an idyllic town," said Frank Nipkau, the editor in chief of Winnenden Zeitung newspaper. "The town people are devastated and they can't understand why this is happening in this town."

Security at German schools has been an issue in the past.

In November 2006, an 18-year-old former student strapped explosives to his body and went on a rampage at a middle school in western Germany, shooting and wounding six people -- most of them students -- before killing himself.

In July 2003, a 16-year-old student shot a teacher before taking his own life at a school in the southern German town of Coburg.

A year earlier, 18 people were killed when an expelled student went on a shooting spree at his school in eastern Germany.

Another European country, Finland, is planning to toughen firearm laws after two school shootings there left 20 people dead. Those incidents occurred in November 2007 and September 2008.

Finnish news reports on Wednesday said an Interior Ministry working group has issued a proposal calling for age 20 as the minimum age for handgun ownership and 18 as the minimum for rifles. The proposal will be circulated among legislators.


"Under the proposal, a firearm license applicant would be required to provide a certificate from a shooting club instructor to certify that the applicant has practiced shooting at a gun club for two years prior to applying for a permit.

"The ministry also wants applicants' health and behavior to come under closer scrutiny and has suggested adopting aptitude tests used by the Defense Forces," according to yla.fi.

[~Katja~]

just read on the German newspapers that another student died just this afternoon from the injuries bringing it to 17 deaths...

he was a former student at the school, but I have not seen more info on what lead him to this act.

[boosterp]

Truly sad.

[TheMojoPin]

Probably played way too much Düm.

[TjM]

I Blamez Teh Vijo Gamez!

[Contra]

Why don't all schools in the civilized world have metal detectors at this point?

[topless_mike]

i just dont get it.

[sailor]

Why don't all schools in the civilized world have metal detectors at this point?

cost-benefit analysis. they should put metal detectors (and operators) in every german school for shootings that take place every 7 years at this point?

[~Katja~]

gun laws are a bit more strict in Germany... so you don't find as many unregistered guns... this kid used his fathers gun

[Aggie]

This is just sad. I hate reading about stuff like this. Can't these people just off themselves instead of taking innocent people with them?

DroopyGirl

Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 450


I forgot about her! I bet she's stoked her baseball team beat the Dominican Republic. TWICE!

[Contra]

2002, 2003, 2006, 2009. Where are you getting every 7 years sailor?

With the lawsuits these schools must be facing I'd have to think its cost effective to have metal detectors, like that's even THE POINT but still.

[sailor]

2002, 2003, 2006, 2009. Where are you getting every 7 years sailor?

With the lawsuits these schools must be facing I'd have to think its cost effective to have metal detectors, like that's even THE POINT but still.

the original thread was 2002 and wasn't bumped till today. based on that i have nothing to indicate there have been gun shootings in germany more often than 2002 and 2009.

and of course being cost-effective is the point, even if you don't think it sounds like a pretty, bow-wrapped concept. take cars. car costs 10k - 150 people in 100,000 buying one die in an accident each year (numbers are made up and bear no resemblance to reality). ok, bump the cost to 15k and only 100 die. is it worth it? what if you bump the cost to 55k and now 75 people die. there is a line (yes, it also factors in lawsuits) where it is simply not profitable to instill further safety features.

also, maybe people don't want to live in a police state?

[sailor]

in fact, come to think of it, you're doing precisely the same calculation (while acting above it) but you're simply putting a higher premium on a human life than i am. you're effectively saying how can they afford not to install metal detectors.

[Contra]

Well of course in the end its all about money so I was just arguing your point there, but I got the years from the quoted article earlier in this thread.

[SatCam]

How does a metal detector prevent someone from shooting everyone in sight? In fact the first victims of columbine weren't in the school........ they were on the front lawn.

[sailor]

Well of course in the end its all about money so I was just arguing your point there, but I got the years from the quoted article earlier in this thread.

ah, it was waaaay too long for my attention span.