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Erfurt school massacre
The Erfurt school massacre was a mass shooting that occurred on 26 April 2002 at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium, a secondary school in Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany. 19-year-old expelled student Robert Steinhäuser shot and killed 16 people, including a police officer before killing himself. One person was also wounded by a bullet fragment. According to students, he ignored them and aimed only for the teachers and administrators, although two students were unintentionally killed by shots fired through a locked door.
Robert Steinhäuser, a 19-year-old man born on 22 January 1983, was the perpetrator of the massacre. He was a student of the Gutenberg-Gymnasium until early October 2001 and had previously threatened a teacher. His academic performance declined in 1999, leading him to drop out of the year shortly before the final exam. He was allowed to repeat the 11th year at the request of his parents, approved by the principal. He joined a gun club in October 2000 or 2001 and acquired a gun license.
At the end of September 2001, he had spent a few days away from school, for which he presented a mandatory medical certificate which was quickly identified as a forgery. Because of this forgery, Steinhäuser was expelled by the principal. Due to the regulations used in Thuringia at the time, Steinhäuser, on expulsion, was without any qualifications and therefore had very limited job opportunities.
Steinhäuser did not tell his parents he had been expelled, and pretended he was still attending school. The day of the shooting he told his parents he was going to school to take a maths exam. The investigation revealed that Steinhäuser had been using the Internet to research the Columbine High School massacre, and had related files saved on his computer.
On the day of the shooting, before leaving his residence at his usual time, Steinhäuser armed himself with a 9mm Glock 17C semi-automatic pistol, a Mossberg 590 Mariner 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, which was unusable due to an earlier handling error, and a diving knife. Steinhäuser entered the school unmasked at approximately 10:45, carrying his weapons and ammunition concealed in either his sports bag or backpack. As Steinhäuser was in the hallway, he encountered the building's caretaker, and briefly talked with him. He asked whether or not Ms. Alt, the principal of the school, was in the building. He went into the men's lavatory on the ground floor and changed some of his clothes, including a black face mask. He left his coat, wallet and identification.
The shooting started shortly before 10:58. From the lavatory, Steinhäuser went to the school office. There he shot the deputy school principal and the secretary. In the next room was the headmistress, but Steinhäuser did not enter the room despite the door being unlocked. When the headmistress went to check the noise, Steinhäuser had already left the room. Upon discovering the bodies, she locked herself in her office and alerted the emergency services. Steinhäuser moved from classroom to classroom between the second and third floor, pausing briefly each time in the doorway to shoot a teacher, then moving on to the next room, sometimes shooting at teachers he encountered in the halls or the stairways. There were two exceptions to this pattern: In Room 208, Steinhäuser had either not seen the present teacher or mistaken her for a student. He thus did not open fire, but returned a few minutes later and shot at the now-barricaded door, fatally wounding two students. In the second instance, history and arts teacher Rainer Heise stated that he had seen Steinhäuser on the school yard, just after he shot a teacher on the grounds, trying to fire at fleeing students before realising his gun was empty. At 11:05, a janitor called the police. At 11:12, the first police car arrived at the school. Steinhäuser opened fire on the police, fatally shooting one of the policemen. A student told other officers around the same time that she had recognised the shooter as Steinhäuser.
In front of the art material Room 111 on the first floor, Steinhäuser met Heise. Steinhäuser, who removed his mask either during or shortly before the encounter, was recognised by Heise as a former student of his history class. In interviews, Heise stated that he told Steinhäuser "You may shoot me now" while looking him in the eyes, after which Steinhäuser lowered his weapon and replied: "Herr Heise, für heute reichts." [Mr Heise, that's enough for today.] According to Heise, he asked Steinhäuser for a private talk in a nearby art material room. When Steinhäuser entered and put his gun on a shelf, Heise pushed Steinhäuser from behind and locked him inside. Steinhäuser killed himself shortly after police entered the building minutes later.
From the first shot to Steinhäuser's suicide the spree lasted no more than 20 minutes. Shortly after 12:00, Steinhäuser's body was found by a special police detachment (SEK) in Room 111. The gunman had killed 16 people: the school's assistant principal, secretary, ten teachers, one trainee-teacher, two students, and one police officer. In total one third of the school's faculty were killed, and two students, aged 14 and 15, were shot by rounds fired through a locked door. He fired around 71 shots in total and reloaded three times during the massacre.
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Erfurt school massacre
The Erfurt school massacre was a mass shooting that occurred on 26 April 2002 at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium, a secondary school in Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany. 19-year-old expelled student Robert Steinhäuser shot and killed 16 people, including a police officer before killing himself. One person was also wounded by a bullet fragment. According to students, he ignored them and aimed only for the teachers and administrators, although two students were unintentionally killed by shots fired through a locked door.
Robert Steinhäuser, a 19-year-old man born on 22 January 1983, was the perpetrator of the massacre. He was a student of the Gutenberg-Gymnasium until early October 2001 and had previously threatened a teacher. His academic performance declined in 1999, leading him to drop out of the year shortly before the final exam. He was allowed to repeat the 11th year at the request of his parents, approved by the principal. He joined a gun club in October 2000 or 2001 and acquired a gun license.
At the end of September 2001, he had spent a few days away from school, for which he presented a mandatory medical certificate which was quickly identified as a forgery. Because of this forgery, Steinhäuser was expelled by the principal. Due to the regulations used in Thuringia at the time, Steinhäuser, on expulsion, was without any qualifications and therefore had very limited job opportunities.
Steinhäuser did not tell his parents he had been expelled, and pretended he was still attending school. The day of the shooting he told his parents he was going to school to take a maths exam. The investigation revealed that Steinhäuser had been using the Internet to research the Columbine High School massacre, and had related files saved on his computer.
On the day of the shooting, before leaving his residence at his usual time, Steinhäuser armed himself with a 9mm Glock 17C semi-automatic pistol, a Mossberg 590 Mariner 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, which was unusable due to an earlier handling error, and a diving knife. Steinhäuser entered the school unmasked at approximately 10:45, carrying his weapons and ammunition concealed in either his sports bag or backpack. As Steinhäuser was in the hallway, he encountered the building's caretaker, and briefly talked with him. He asked whether or not Ms. Alt, the principal of the school, was in the building. He went into the men's lavatory on the ground floor and changed some of his clothes, including a black face mask. He left his coat, wallet and identification.
The shooting started shortly before 10:58. From the lavatory, Steinhäuser went to the school office. There he shot the deputy school principal and the secretary. In the next room was the headmistress, but Steinhäuser did not enter the room despite the door being unlocked. When the headmistress went to check the noise, Steinhäuser had already left the room. Upon discovering the bodies, she locked herself in her office and alerted the emergency services. Steinhäuser moved from classroom to classroom between the second and third floor, pausing briefly each time in the doorway to shoot a teacher, then moving on to the next room, sometimes shooting at teachers he encountered in the halls or the stairways. There were two exceptions to this pattern: In Room 208, Steinhäuser had either not seen the present teacher or mistaken her for a student. He thus did not open fire, but returned a few minutes later and shot at the now-barricaded door, fatally wounding two students. In the second instance, history and arts teacher Rainer Heise stated that he had seen Steinhäuser on the school yard, just after he shot a teacher on the grounds, trying to fire at fleeing students before realising his gun was empty. At 11:05, a janitor called the police. At 11:12, the first police car arrived at the school. Steinhäuser opened fire on the police, fatally shooting one of the policemen. A student told other officers around the same time that she had recognised the shooter as Steinhäuser.
In front of the art material Room 111 on the first floor, Steinhäuser met Heise. Steinhäuser, who removed his mask either during or shortly before the encounter, was recognised by Heise as a former student of his history class. In interviews, Heise stated that he told Steinhäuser "You may shoot me now" while looking him in the eyes, after which Steinhäuser lowered his weapon and replied: "Herr Heise, für heute reichts." [Mr Heise, that's enough for today.] According to Heise, he asked Steinhäuser for a private talk in a nearby art material room. When Steinhäuser entered and put his gun on a shelf, Heise pushed Steinhäuser from behind and locked him inside. Steinhäuser killed himself shortly after police entered the building minutes later.
From the first shot to Steinhäuser's suicide the spree lasted no more than 20 minutes. Shortly after 12:00, Steinhäuser's body was found by a special police detachment (SEK) in Room 111. The gunman had killed 16 people: the school's assistant principal, secretary, ten teachers, one trainee-teacher, two students, and one police officer. In total one third of the school's faculty were killed, and two students, aged 14 and 15, were shot by rounds fired through a locked door. He fired around 71 shots in total and reloaded three times during the massacre.
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