Masked man storms German school

Reuters ^ | Nov 20, 2006 | Gerhard Mey

[TexKat]

EMSDETTEN, Germany (Reuters) - A masked man wearing explosives and brandishing rifles opened fire after storming a school in the western German town of Emsdetten on Monday, wounding at least 11 people before he committed suicide.

Police identified the man as an 18-year old former pupil at the Scholl secondary school where the attack took place. He was known to authorities and due in court on Tuesday for weapons violations, they said.

German television broadcast pictures they said came from the man's Web site, showing him standing in a forest in camouflaged military fatigues and brandishing a hi-tech rifle.

Police had blocked the Web site, which they said contained a note warning of his plans, by mid-afternoon.

"Based on the note, he appears to have acted out of general frustration and a feeling his life had lost all meaning," state prosecutor Wolfgang Schwer told a news conference.

"Everything suggests he was acting alone and not linked to broader extremist groups."

The prosecutor said at least 11 people within the school had been wounded by the man. Five of the wounded -- three boys, a girl and a janitor -- received gunshots to the stomach, arms, legs or hands, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.

Sixteen police who stormed the school were being treated for smoke inhalation after the man detonated smoke bombs.

Police blocked off the school in Emsdetten, a town of 35,000 near the Dutch border, to search the grounds. Dozens of students and parents, some of them crying, comforted each other nearby.

EMERGENCY CALL

Hans Volkmann, who led the police operation, said local authorities had received an emergency call reporting shots at the school at 09:28 a.m. and arrived on the scene within minutes.

Commandos entered the building shortly after 10 a.m. and evacuated four children before finding the man dead on the second floor.

Police said it was unclear whether the man, who was found with two rifles and a knife, had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or by detonating explosives he was carrying.

Gerd Endemann, a teacher at the school, said he had seen the man crouched behind his car before he stormed in.

"I wondered what he was doing there," he said. "He was a somewhat closed-off student who was very difficult to engage."

Police said the man's parents were in deep shock and that his father had sought treatment in the intensive care unit of a local hospital after receiving news of the shooting.

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.

That shooting reportedly began after a student said he was not going to take a maths test and pulled out a gun.

A hotline was set up to offer counselling for Scholl students and parents. There are 693 pupils at the school, according to its Web site, aged roughly between 10 and 15 years of age.

[TexKat]

Emergency services gather outside Scholl secondary school in the western German town of Emsdetten November 20, 2006. A masked man wearing explosives and brandishing rifles opened fire at a school in the western German town of Emsdetten on Monday, wounding at least 11 people before committing suicide. Police identified the man as an 18-year old former pupil at the Scholl secondary school where the attack took place. He was known to authorities and due in court this week for weapons violations, they said. REUTERS/Juergen Peperhowe/Westfaelische Nachrichten (GERMANY)

[US_MilitaryRules]

No name as usual.

[rfreedom4u]

I wonder what the guy's name was?

[TexKat]

A fireman and children walk around a corner near a school in Emsdetten, western Germany, Monday Nov. 20, 2006. A masked man had stormed the high school in the morning and opened fire with a handgun, injuring eight people. Police said the incident ended with the death of the assailant. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Special police force members walk at the front of a school in Emsdetten, western Germany, Monday Nov. 20, 2006. A masked man had stormed the high school in the morning and opened fire with a handgun, injuring eight people. Police said the incident ended with the death of the assailant. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

German police escort children leaving the Geschwister-Scholl school in Emsdetten, western Germany. An 18-year-old loner obsessed with guns killed himself after storming the school -- where he was once a pupil -- with explosives strapped to his body and wounding 11 people, police said.

View of the Geschwister-Scholl school in Emsdetten, western Germany. An 18-year-old loner obsessed with guns killed himself after storming the school -- where he was once a pupil -- with explosives strapped to his body and wounding 11 people, police said. Photo:Volker Hartmann/AFP

[2banana]

brandishing a hi-tech rifle.

The prosecutor said at least 11 people within the school had been wounded by the man. Five of the wounded -- three boys, a girl and a janitor -- received gunshots to the stomach, arms, legs or hands, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.

Looks like "high tech" don't work too good. Just what is a "high tech" rifle anyways...?

[MalachiFourSix]

How is it that they want to put homeschoolers in jail?....

Oh, I forgot...the government is ultra liberal...and...socialist....

I would want to take my kids of the public shools too!!

[TexKat]

Teen gunman storms German high school, wounding 5; later found dead

Police searched the building room by room, evacuating terrified students. They found the assailant, identified as Sebastian Bosse by witnesses and German television, dead in a smoke-filled room.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/061120/world/germany_school_attack_5

[dljordan]

"Looks like "high tech" don't work too good. Just what is a "high tech" rifle anyways...?"

According to the MSM and Marxist gun-grabbers, anything that doesen't use black powder is a high-tech assault weapon that only police and the military should have access to.

[353FMG]

"Just what is a "high tech" rifle anyways...?"

Something that goes BANG! once every time you pull the trigger, and no more than once.

[proud_yank]

German television broadcast pictures they said came from the man's Web site, showing him standing in a forest in camouflaged military fatigues and brandishing a hi-tech rifle.

Funny how brandishing a 'hi-tech rifle', whatever that may be, suddenly makes you more prone to criminal activity. Yet they don't even give the name of this individual...

[George W. Bush]

I assume it's another Playstation 3-related tragedy.

[proud_yank]

The MSM's high tech rifle...

[najida]

My bet is he has 3 names and the middle one is Wayne.

[Jim Verdolini]

"Just what is a "high tech" rifle anyways...?"

Anything without a flint lock.

[txhurl]

Crazy lutherans.

[east1234]

Apparently it's a .22 with rather low powered ammo. Shot 11 and killed on one?

[PeteB570]

Man, I need one of them.

[Strategerist]

They found the assailant, identified as Sebastian Bosse

Well, 99% of FR just completely lost interest in this story.

[Old_Mil]

Is his middle name "Al"?