Hints Emerge About Why Teen Opened Fire In German School, Killing 15
Posted March 12, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The question all of Germany is asking Thursday is a simple yet poignant one: why?
Why would a 17-year-old go on a gun rampage and shoot down 15 people, including many youngsters, in cold blood? The tragedy unfolded at the Albertville secondary school in Winnenden, Germany not far from Sttugart on Wednesday and sent shock waves around the world.
And now, 24 hours later, we’re finally getting at least some hints about the motive, which died with the suspect. His name was Tim Kretschmer and he was a former student at the school, graduating at the bottom of his class last year.
It’s believed he got his deadly weapon from his father, who belongs to a local gun club and kept all but one of his firearms locked up for safe keeping. It was that loose Beretta 9mm pistol that his son managed to get his hands on, using it to inflict so much damage in so short a time.
Cops say Kretschmer appeared at the campus around 9:30am local time, dressed in black and wearing a gas mask. He began firing non-stop, killing eight young girls, a boy, and three female teachers, who saved other lives by trying to shield student targets from the spray of bullets.
One official describing the heartbreaking scene says investigators found some of the the children at their desks with pencils still in their hands, mute testimony to the speed of the deadly offensive. All of them had been shot in the head, apparently proving the gunfire wasn’t random.
Kretschmer fled the scene in a stolen car, setting up his final last stand with police several kilometres away. He killed three more innocent bystanders before being shot by authorities and turning his gun on himself.
Now a harsh spotlight has been turned on the teen as friends and experts seek a possible explanation for his actions.
It turns out the suspect was a below average student at the school, a loner who never participated in any of the institution’s social events.
He had always complained to his small circle of acquaintances that he felt rejected by society, a classic component of many spree killers’ histories.
And he was apparently teased by his fellow students and felt ignored by his teachers, another common thread.
Reports surfaced in the morning that he may have warned of his murderous mission in a chat room only the night before. ” ‘Everybody is laughing at me,” one German official claims the message read. “Nobody recognizes my potential. I have arms, I have guns, and tomorrow morning I will go to my previous school and show them what I can do.”
It was signed name withheld and contained an LOL at the end – short for laughing out loud.
The chat postings created high interest across the planet Thursday, as people looked for a reason for the tragedy. But now experts are saying they believe that message was a fake and that there is no evidence the young gunman actually wrote it. It’s not clear who did.
One friend remembered Kretschmer as quiet, a table tennis champion who loved to play video games, including a contest that involved taking on the role of an assassin to complete deadly missions. His pal recalls he became very proficient at the game and played it all the time.
Another remembered his collection of air guns, which he kept in his bedroom.
Three weeks ago, he may have made another cry for help, when he wrote his parents a letter telling them he was desperately unhappy and that he “couldn’t go on.”
What actually triggered his final terrible spree may never be known but whatever happened that day, it’s apparent he was rational enough that he knew what he was doing. Kretschmer’s sister still attends the school where the bloodbath took place, but she was not targeted.
A man reads a copy of the German tabloid newspaper ‘Bild’ in Winnenden, southern Germany on March 12, 2009, after the shooting rampage. “Blutbad” is translated as “bloodbath.” (Photo credit: Oliver Lang/AFP/Getty Images)
