German school shootout.

[jack_the_knife]

Fifteen people have been killed by a teenage gunman who went on a rampage in south-west Germany, officials say. Among the dead were nine pupils, eight of them girls, and three teachers at the Albertville secondary school in the town of Winnenden, north of Stuttgart.

The gunman, a 17-year-old former pupil named as Tim Kretschmer, entered the school at about 0930 (0830 GMT) in black combat gear and began shooting.

He fled in a stolen car, but killed himself after being cornered by police.
Officers say he shot himself dead after being wounded by the police.

German 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."

Officials earlier said a 10th pupil had died raising the death toll to 16, but this was later revised down to nine pupils.

Baden-Wuerttemberg Interior Minister Heribert Rech said eight of the nine pupils who were killed were girls but he refused to speculate as to whether females in particular were targeted.

Three teachers and three passers-by were the others who died.

Police said the suspect was killed during a shoot-out with officers in the town of Wendlingen, about 40km (25 miles) away from the school.

He had fled there in a car he had hijacked after the school shooting - killing a passer-by as he made his escape, police said.

Spokeswoman Inka Buckmiller said the shoot-out took place at a car showroom, where two bystanders were killed and two police officers were injured.

"The suspect also died as a result of this shooting," she said.

Baden-Wuerttemburg state governor Guenther Oettinger said police killed the suspect, but officers later said he had killed himself.

One woman said her daughter had been in the school at the time of the shooting, and she was now at home "trembling and crying".

"She and her friend jumped out of the window. Her friend is now in hospital... We hope that she's all right," the woman said.

"What can I say? I don't understand the world any more."

'Heart-breaking'

Regional police chief Erwin Hetger said the teenager "went into the school with a weapon and carried out a bloodbath", according to the Associated Press.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life," he said.

Mr Hetger said informing the families of what had happened was a heart-breaking job.

"Our thoughts are concentrated on the parents. I have looked some of them in the eye, and it's damn hard to keep your composure," he said.

Local media reported that police had raided the suspect's house and recovered 16 weapons.

The teenager's father, thought to be a prominent businessman in the area, was reported to be a member of a local shooting club.

Eckehard Weiss, who coached Tim Kretschmer at table-tennis, told the BBC that he had been a relatively normal boy.

Mr Weiss said he had wanted to be a professional table-tennis player and had even played a match last weekend.

Source.

I think there will be a lot more of these cases in the near future.

[Albert Mond]

Damn. This guy's badass.

[JCC]

Eckehard Weiss, who coached Tim Kretschmer at table-tennis, told the BBC that he had been a relatively normal boy.

EVIDENTLY FUCKING NOT, TRY AGAIN ECKEHARD
thistextisblack

[Slap Your Love]

Originally Posted by JCC

EVIDENTLY FUCKING NOT, TRY AGAIN ECKEHARD
thistextisblack

You mean to say killing 15 people isn't normal?
Damn.

[Minyaliel]

I´m really deeply shocked by this. I´ve watched the news from back home - the entire country is mourning. It is perfectly horrid.

[HumanePain]

In the majority of the shootings over the past ten+ years the shooter(s) kill them selves afterward. They intend to commit suicide.

If we could figure out how to recognize and intervene in the suicide thought spiral we may be able to prevent the shootings that precede them.

[Joker_in_the_Pack]

Originally Posted by HumanePain

In the majority of the shootings over the past ten+ years the shooter(s) kill them selves afterward. They intend to commit suicide.

If we could figure out how to recognize and intervene in the suicide thought spiral we may be able to prevent the shootings that precede them.

We could always try not subjecting kids and teens into horribly close minded and dictatorial societies because they're natural instinct at that age is to OPPOSE arbitrary bullshit since their soul isn't crushed, but that's a lot of work and it involves the people in my god awful age group admitting they were wrong. The likely solution will be pills.

[Corpsey]

Originally Posted by Jack The Knife

I think there will be a lot more of these cases in the near future.

What makes you think that?

This really blows. Real fuckin' chirpy.

[Renatus]

Oh holy crap... no I'm not saying that over shock over the shooting.... I'm saying that over shock because well...he has the same last name as me. Well this might make life a bit more akward. Fortunately the last name is a bit more common over there so we have no idea if he is related, and it is doubtful, though we don't have contact with our relatives of the same last name over there.

[jack_the_knife]

Originally Posted by Corpsey

What makes you think that?

Gut feeling. I really hope I'm wrong on this one though.
The way some teachers treat students here, it's only a matter of time before someone cracks and starts popping off people again.

[Opteron_Man]

This tragic event has occured very close to where two dear friends of mine are. Too close. I don't know what to say.

I never want this kind of thing to happen again.

[Corpsey]

Ah, I didn't realise that you happened to be a Deutscher.

Thought Luxembourg was outside Germany.

[jack_the_knife]

Originally Posted by Corpsey

Ah, I didn't realise that you happened to be a Deutscher.

Thought Luxembourg was outside Germany.

I'm not German, I'm British. And Luxembourg is outside Germany.

[Corpsey]

Fuckin' smashing.

I'm going to bed, then I'll see things more clearly.

Thanks for the clarification and I hope your gut feelings in the wrong.

[L'Oiseau Noir]

I hate hearing shit like this.

Some fuckhead and his friends at school today were giving props to the shooters for "a job well done." Didn't know what they were talking about 'til I saw this article.

Makes me wonder where today's youth is headed. Won't be the last one we'll see, sadly.

[Xombie]

Originally Posted by jack_the_knife

I think there will be a lot more of these cases in the near future.

I can see that being a possibility. After the Columbine shooting, wasn't there a big increase in school gun/bomb threats across America? I know that was the case in my school, but I'm pretty sure it was a nationwide thing. It seems almost like a trend.

[CptSternn]

It's a trend that feeds itself. People wanting to make a statement with their suicide have found killing lots of other people tend to bring in media from around the globe. Most teens that top themselves do so in a desperate cry for attention. Engaging in this act gives them exactly what they want.

The media will always be involved, so they know they will always get the desired outcome. This gives rise to others who will do the same thing knowing their death will make international news.

Plus, they get to kill off those who they feel have been hurting them, taunting them - basically the ones they feel drove them to commit such an act.

It's really a win/win in their own warped minds that society plays into with its own warped sense of media entertainment.

They should focus more on the victims than the shooters - that would help keep others from committing such acts. I mean, how many names of victims from Columbine can anyone here name? Conversely, what were the names of the shooters? What video games did they play? Hell, you can list the movies, music, and all sorts of inane facts about the lives of the shooters but no one gives a shite about the victims. If the media were to change the way it reports on these acts, they themselves could limit this sort of behaviour.

[jack_the_knife]

A school in St.Vith, Belgium, that a friend attends was evacuated today due to a threatened shooting...

[Lakita in the House!]

its always white people that go crazy and shoot schools. i ain't never heard of no black person doing that.

[Renatus]

Originally Posted by Lakita in the House!

its always white people that go crazy and shoot schools. i ain't never heard of no black person doing that.

No race is exempt from commiting violent acts. The only difference is when black people do it, it is considered gang violence or somthing rather, which is common and not paid attention to as much.

[Lakita in the House!]

Originally Posted by Renatus

No race is exempt from commiting violent acts. The only difference is when black people do it, it is considered gang violence or somthing rather, which is common and not paid attention to as much.

theres a difference when it has to do with gangs. thats because the other gangs be in yo hood, and you gotta represent. These white people just go insane and shoot up the place because they ain't got no friends.

[Beneath the Shadows]

Originally Posted by Lakita in the House!

its always white people that go crazy and shoot schools.

white people that go crazy

white people

[Renatus]

Originally Posted by Lakita in the House!

theres a difference when it has to do with gangs. thats because the other gangs be in yo hood, and you gotta represent.

There is never an excuse for violence, except in the defense of life, which is not what gangs care about.

[DRM]

Originally Posted by Lakita in the House!

theres a difference when it has to do with gangs. thats because the other gangs be in yo hood, and you gotta represent. These white people just go insane and shoot up the place because they ain't got no friends.

There is no difference between "crazy white people" and ignorant gangsters "representing in their hoods", neither have a good excuse for their use of violence.

[Mir]

What is the ratio between new births vs. deaths per day?