Erfurt school shooting
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| Erfurt school shooting | |
|---|---|
| Location | Erfurt, Germany |
| Date | Friday, April 26, 2002 |
| Attack type | School shooting, mass murder, murder-suicide, massacre |
| Weapon(s) | Glock 17 |
| Deaths | 17 (including the perpetrator) [1] |
| Injured | 7 |
| Perpetrator(s) | Robert Steinhäuser |
The Erfurt school shooting was a school shooting that occurred on April 26, 2002 at the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany. Sixteen people were killed before the perpetrator committed suicide. The victims comprised 13 school staff (12 teachers and one administrator), two students and one police officer. In addition, seven people were injured.
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[edit] Perpetrator and firearms
The perpetrator was Robert Steinhäuser, who had been expelled a few months prior to the shootings for missing lessons and forging excuse notes. Steinhäuser had covered up his expulsion from his family and would leave home everyday with his parents under the impression he was going to school. In the shooting he used a 9mm Glock 17 and had a pump-action shotgun strapped onto his back, but never used it. He had a license for both firearms. In all, 71 rounds were fired.
[edit] The shooting
On the day of the shooting, Steinhäuser left home the same time he always did, and told his parents he had an exam. Steinhäuser got changed into a black ninja-style outfit in the lavatories of his school and started the shooting at approximately 11:00am.
He moved from classroom to classroom, pausing briefly each time in the doorway to shoot the teacher, then moving onto the next room. According to students, he ignored them and aimed only for the teachers, although two students were killed by shots fired through a locked door.
Five minutes after the shooting began, police arrived on the scene. Soon after, Steinhäuser aimed from a window and shot a police officer in the head, killing him instantly. Before his suicide, he was confronted by one of his teachers, Rainer Heise, who was said to have stopped Steinhäuser with the words, "Drück ab! Wenn du mich jetzt erschießt, dann guck mir in die Augen!" ("Pull the trigger! If you shoot me now, then look into my eyes!"), Steinhäuser is said to have pulled off his mask and answered, "Für heute reicht's, Herr Heise!" ("That's enough for today, Mr Heise!").
According to Mr Heise, he then talked to Steinhäuser for a short amount of time, luring him into the doorway of an empty room. When Steinhäuser was in the doorway, Heise pushed Steinhäuser into the room and quickly locked the door. Steinhäuser committed suicide shortly after and his body was found by police a few hours after the shooting. [2]
Steinhäuser's last words -- Für heute reicht's ("this is enough for today") -- was also the title of a very controversial book about the massacre written by Ines Geipel, who alleged that there were several mistakes made by the police on the case.
Heise was considered to be a hero by some for locking Steinhäuser in a room and stopping the killing, but later began to receive some backlash from the public.[1]
[edit] Rumors about a second shooter
Since the incident there have always been rumors about a second shooter, who some witnesses believed they had seen. However, in April 2004 the Gasser Commission, which was convoked by the Thuringian administration, excluded an accomplice, but not an accessory.
In early 2004 a person on the Internet had maintained to be a friend of Steinhäuser's and to have known about his plans before the massacre. On the 5th of July 2005 this person, a 36 year old, was convicted of pretense of a crime and condemned to a fine, as in fact, he did not know anything at all.
[edit] Reactions
- On the day of the massacre, the German government discussed raising the legal age level on firearm ownership from 18 to 21, while others pushed for a ban of firearms.
- Steinhäuser's family issued a statement to news sources and said that it "will forever be sorry that our son and brother has brought such horrifying suffering to the victims and their relatives, the people of Erfurt and Thuringia, and all over Germany." [3]
- The United States Secretary of Education Rod Paige offered condolences to the German people. [4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- "18 dead in German school shooting" BBC News article (April 26, 2002)
- "Eighteen killed in German school shooting" The Guardian article (April 26, 2002)
- "How teacher stopped the school slaughter" The Observer article (April 28, 2002)
- "Schools remember massacre victims" BBC News article (29 April, 2002)
- "Killer's secret behind revenge attack" The Guardian article (April 29, 2002)
- "School killer's parents break silence" The Observer article (May 5, 2002)
- A detailed account of the massacre (be careful to note that the author does not indicate where he got the detail from)
