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2009 Winnenden shootings
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2009 Winnenden shootings
The Winnenden school shooting occurred on the morning of 11 March 2009 at the Albertville-Realschule, a real school in Winnenden, a town in the Rems-Murr district of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany, followed by a shootout at a car dealership in nearby Wendlingen. The shooting spree resulted in 16 deaths, including the suicide of the perpetrator, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer, who had graduated from the school a year earlier. Another nine people were injured during the incident.
In the Albertville-Realschule at approximately 09:30 a.m., Kretschmer first began shooting with a 9 mm Beretta 92FS pistol, which he had stolen from his parents. Eyewitness reports state that Kretschmer started on the first upstairs floor, where he made a beeline for two top-floor classrooms and a chemistry laboratory. In the first classroom (Class 9C which was receiving a Spanish lesson), Kretschmer fatally shot five students in the head at close range without warning. He then entered the next classroom (Class 10D which was receiving a German speaking lesson), killed two more students, and wounded nine more, two of whom would die of their wounds en route to the hospital. As Kretschmer left the room to reload his weapon, the teacher reportedly closed the door and locked it. After unsuccessfully trying to shoot off the lock, Kretschmer then moved on to the chemistry laboratory, where he shot and killed the teacher. Students escaped Kretschmer by jumping out of windows. In the three targeted classrooms, he killed nine students and one teacher. He shot most of his victims in the head. Kretschmer fired more than 60 rounds at the school.
The school headmaster broadcast a coded announcement ("Mrs Koma is coming", which is amok spelled backwards) alerting the teachers of the situation; they locked classroom doors. This coded alert had been used by German educators after the Erfurt school massacre in April 2002.
After receiving an emergency call from a student at 09:33 local time, three police officers reached the scene two minutes later and entered the school, interrupting the shooting spree. Kretschmer shot at them and fled the building, killing two teachers in the hall as he departed. He killed a total of 12 people at the school. A quantity of unused ammunition was recovered from the school. "It appears the perpetrator may have intended to do far more harm at the school than he managed," said chief criminal investigator Ralf Michelfelder.
At around 9:45 a.m., Kretschmer fled the scene and killed a 56-year-old groundskeeper of the nearby ZfP Klinikum Schloß Winnenden mental hospital, shooting the man four times as he was standing in a pond. Large numbers of police officers secured the school building and searched for Kretschmer throughout Winnenden for hours without success. News reports confirmed that Kretschmer was on the run and warned motorists not to pick up any hitchhikers.
At approximately 10 a.m., Kretschmer carjacked a first-generation Volkswagen Sharan minivan at a car park in Winnenden. From his position on the rear seat, Kretschmer ordered the car's driver, 41-year-old Igor Wolf, to drive towards Wendlingen, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Winnenden. Kretschmer and the driver went westwards into the suburbs of the state capital, Stuttgart, travelling through the towns and districts of Waiblingen, Fellbach and Bad Cannstatt, before driving on the B14 dual carriageway through the Heslach Tunnel onto the A81 motorway towards Böblingen and Tübingen. During slow traffic, Kretschmer asked Wolf if he should "pull a prank" and open fire on the motorists ahead. The two drove onto the B27 dual carriageway before leaving on the B313 to Nürtingen.
Wolf later reported that, when asked why he was doing this, Kretschmer replied, "For fun, because it is fun." According to Wolf, Kretschmer revealed his intentions as he was loading his pistol magazines during the ride: "Do you think we will find another school?" Wolf says he quickly changed the conversation then. Shortly after 12 p.m., just before the Wendlinger junction to the A8 Autobahn, Wolf spotted an approaching police patrol. At a curve, Wolf steered the car onto the grass verge and jumped from the vehicle, running away towards police, shouting that he was kidnapped in Winnenden.
Kretschmer immediately left the car and ran towards the nearby industrial area, entering a Volkswagen car showroom through the main entrance. He threatened a salesperson and demanded a key for one of the vehicles. The salesperson escaped while Kretschmer was distracted. Kretschmer shot and killed another salesperson and a customer, firing 13 bullets into the two people. As he reloaded, another salesperson and visitor fled through the rear exit. Kretschmer emerged at about 12:30 p.m. and shot at a passing car. The driver escaped without injury. The police started to arrive and a shootout began. An officer fired eight shots at Kretschmer, hitting him once in each leg.
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2009 Winnenden shootings
The Winnenden school shooting occurred on the morning of 11 March 2009 at the Albertville-Realschule, a real school in Winnenden, a town in the Rems-Murr district of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany, followed by a shootout at a car dealership in nearby Wendlingen. The shooting spree resulted in 16 deaths, including the suicide of the perpetrator, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer, who had graduated from the school a year earlier. Another nine people were injured during the incident.
In the Albertville-Realschule at approximately 09:30 a.m., Kretschmer first began shooting with a 9 mm Beretta 92FS pistol, which he had stolen from his parents. Eyewitness reports state that Kretschmer started on the first upstairs floor, where he made a beeline for two top-floor classrooms and a chemistry laboratory. In the first classroom (Class 9C which was receiving a Spanish lesson), Kretschmer fatally shot five students in the head at close range without warning. He then entered the next classroom (Class 10D which was receiving a German speaking lesson), killed two more students, and wounded nine more, two of whom would die of their wounds en route to the hospital. As Kretschmer left the room to reload his weapon, the teacher reportedly closed the door and locked it. After unsuccessfully trying to shoot off the lock, Kretschmer then moved on to the chemistry laboratory, where he shot and killed the teacher. Students escaped Kretschmer by jumping out of windows. In the three targeted classrooms, he killed nine students and one teacher. He shot most of his victims in the head. Kretschmer fired more than 60 rounds at the school.
The school headmaster broadcast a coded announcement ("Mrs Koma is coming", which is amok spelled backwards) alerting the teachers of the situation; they locked classroom doors. This coded alert had been used by German educators after the Erfurt school massacre in April 2002.
After receiving an emergency call from a student at 09:33 local time, three police officers reached the scene two minutes later and entered the school, interrupting the shooting spree. Kretschmer shot at them and fled the building, killing two teachers in the hall as he departed. He killed a total of 12 people at the school. A quantity of unused ammunition was recovered from the school. "It appears the perpetrator may have intended to do far more harm at the school than he managed," said chief criminal investigator Ralf Michelfelder.
At around 9:45 a.m., Kretschmer fled the scene and killed a 56-year-old groundskeeper of the nearby ZfP Klinikum Schloß Winnenden mental hospital, shooting the man four times as he was standing in a pond. Large numbers of police officers secured the school building and searched for Kretschmer throughout Winnenden for hours without success. News reports confirmed that Kretschmer was on the run and warned motorists not to pick up any hitchhikers.
At approximately 10 a.m., Kretschmer carjacked a first-generation Volkswagen Sharan minivan at a car park in Winnenden. From his position on the rear seat, Kretschmer ordered the car's driver, 41-year-old Igor Wolf, to drive towards Wendlingen, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Winnenden. Kretschmer and the driver went westwards into the suburbs of the state capital, Stuttgart, travelling through the towns and districts of Waiblingen, Fellbach and Bad Cannstatt, before driving on the B14 dual carriageway through the Heslach Tunnel onto the A81 motorway towards Böblingen and Tübingen. During slow traffic, Kretschmer asked Wolf if he should "pull a prank" and open fire on the motorists ahead. The two drove onto the B27 dual carriageway before leaving on the B313 to Nürtingen.
Wolf later reported that, when asked why he was doing this, Kretschmer replied, "For fun, because it is fun." According to Wolf, Kretschmer revealed his intentions as he was loading his pistol magazines during the ride: "Do you think we will find another school?" Wolf says he quickly changed the conversation then. Shortly after 12 p.m., just before the Wendlinger junction to the A8 Autobahn, Wolf spotted an approaching police patrol. At a curve, Wolf steered the car onto the grass verge and jumped from the vehicle, running away towards police, shouting that he was kidnapped in Winnenden.
Kretschmer immediately left the car and ran towards the nearby industrial area, entering a Volkswagen car showroom through the main entrance. He threatened a salesperson and demanded a key for one of the vehicles. The salesperson escaped while Kretschmer was distracted. Kretschmer shot and killed another salesperson and a customer, firing 13 bullets into the two people. As he reloaded, another salesperson and visitor fled through the rear exit. Kretschmer emerged at about 12:30 p.m. and shot at a passing car. The driver escaped without injury. The police started to arrive and a shootout began. An officer fired eight shots at Kretschmer, hitting him once in each leg.
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