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WINNENDEN, Germany (CNN) -- A gunman dressed in military gear killed 17 people Wednesday in a shooting spree in Germany, police said.
German shooter Tim Kretschmer, 17, targeted females during his rampage.


Tim Kretschmer, 17, began his rampage at a school where he used to be a student in Winnenden, a small town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Stuttgart.

Most of the victims at the school were female -- eight female students, three female teachers and one male student, said Heribert Rech, interior minister for Baden Wuerttemberg region.

Rech said: "They were completely taken by surprise. Some of the victims still had their pens in their hands."

Kretschmer opened fire in three first floor classrooms, including a physics lab where a teacher was found dead behind her desk, Rech told a news conference.

Rech said police arrived in minutes. "This speedy intervention means they prevented further escalation of events."

The shooting at the Albertville-Realschule Winnenden school began around 9:45 a.m. (4:45 a.m. EDT) and lasted about two minutes.

One student told CNN: "We heard that someone was inside shooting. Then we also saw a teacher who had blood on his hands because he wanted to help a female teacher who sacrificed herself for a student -- she stood in front of a student to protect her." Read how students jumped from windows to escape

Kretschmer did not shoot wildly, Rech said, contradicting earlier police statements, but hit most of his victims in the head.

As the first police arrived at the school, he fled and killed a person working in a hospital nearby, then hijacked a car, taking the driver hostage.

He drove towards the nearby town of Wendlingen, but the car crashed on a sharp bend, Rech said.

The driver escaped and called police as Kretschmer ran away and towards a car salesroom in Wendlingen where he shot a salesperson and a customer, Rech said.

"Police officers in civilian clothes opened fire and shot several times. The perpetrator tried to escape and was shot at least once in the leg. ... A little later he was found dead," he added.

It was not clear if he died from injuries received in the police shootout or if he committed suicide. Regional police chief Erwin Hetger said police thought he had killed himself.

Kretschmer was on the loose for three and a half hours after the incident began, police said. Video Watch more about the shootings »

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was "inconceivable that within seconds school students and teachers have been put to death by this terrible crime."

"It is a day of mourning for the whole of Germany," she said in a televised statement.

Police did not know the motive for the shooting spree, CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reported from Winnenden.

"No one seems to have an explanation for why this happened," he said. "Police officers have heard that this young man didn't cause much of a buzz, wasn't someone who was negative or known for violence. They have no idea why he did all this."

Police raided his parents' home later and found they had a collection of of 14 guns.

The pistol used in the killing was part of the father's collection, authorities said. German gun laws are fairly restrictive and require owners to control access to them. Do you think the gun control issue is taken seriously enough?

Rech said the guns were legally owned by Kretschmer's father who is a member of a gun club.

At least seven people were injured in the shootings -- five people in Winnenden and two police officers in Wendlingen -- police spokeswoman Renate Roesch added. She was unable to say how serious the injuries were.

Six teenagers from the from the school shooting were transported to the Waiblingen hospital with undisclosed injuries.

One of those patients has already been released from the hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman. The families of the dead have been informed and are receiving counseling, Roesch said.

About 1,000 students attend the school where the killings began.

Authorities sealed off the town of Winnenden and launched an intense manhunt for the gunman after the school shootings. Police said the man was about 1.80m (5'11") and heavily armed.

"It is a small town, an idyllic town," said Frank Nipkau, the editor in chief of Winnenden Zeitung newspaper. "The town people are devastated and they can't understand why this is happening in this town."

Security at German schools has been an issue in the past.

is he a terroist?

You can call him whatever you want rudeboy. You control your own thoughts and can have your own opinions.

Perhaps a more fitting approach to this topic is to discuss why so many young people have been on shooting sprees at their schools in recent years. What the hell is going on!

For once, I am glad I am here, where guns are totally banned. Some places, like America, believe in the right to bear arms more than the bible itself. I didn't know European countries allowed private guns.

gtmash wrote:For once, I am glad I am here, where guns are totally banned. Some places, like America, believe in the right to bear arms more than the bible itself. I didn't know European countries allowed private guns.

Ditto

.Think he stole it or smuggled it.
The coincidence is it happened approximately same time as the Alabama shootings...

Snow wrote:.Think he stole it or smuggled it.
The coincidence is it happened approximately same time as the Alabama shootings...

It's in the article. His daddy had a huge legal collection of guns.

rudeboy wrote:is he a terroist?

imagine he was a muslim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ohh dear...

if he was a muslim.. the whole world will call every arab and muslim as terrorist...

lol @ his daddy.

quatroporte wrote:

rudeboy wrote:is he a terroist?

imagine he was a muslim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ohh dear...

if he was a muslim.. the whole world will call every arab and muslim as terrorist...

That's already how it is, isn't it?

In all seriousness, the reason for most of these shootings is that the kid is mentally unbalanced. While easy access to weapons may have helped increase the body count, there's no telling whether he may have been able to kill just as many people if he had some other type of weapon-- say, a home made bomb like what Timothy McVeigh used in the Oklahoma City bombing.

gamercowboy wrote:

quatroporte wrote:

rudeboy wrote:is he a terroist?

imagine he was a muslim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ohh dear...

if he was a muslim.. the whole world will call every arab and muslim as terrorist...

That's already how it is, isn't it?

In all seriousness, the reason for most of these shootings is that the kid is mentally unbalanced. While easy access to weapons may have helped increase the body count, there's no telling whether he may have been able to kill just as many people if he had some other type of weapon-- say, a home made bomb like what Timothy McVeigh used in the Oklahoma City bombing.

It matters not what religion he is, the guy was a lunatic, simple as that.

Finally it was his fathers fault, cos the law says that weapons must stored save so nobody has acsess to it, and the ammunition separate.

sage & onion wrote:

gamercowboy wrote:

quatroporte wrote:

rudeboy wrote:is he a terroist?

imagine he was a muslim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ohh dear...

if he was a muslim.. the whole world will call every arab and muslim as terrorist...

That's already how it is, isn't it?

In all seriousness, the reason for most of these shootings is that the kid is mentally unbalanced. While easy access to weapons may have helped increase the body count, there's no telling whether he may have been able to kill just as many people if he had some other type of weapon-- say, a home made bomb like what Timothy McVeigh used in the Oklahoma City bombing.

It matters not what religion he is, the guy was a lunatic, simple as that.

relgion has got everything to do with it. the fact is europeans and americans have double standards. when they have their own ppl killing each other they all of a sudden become "murderers". but when a muslim goes around killing, ya'all think he is a "TERROIST".

example IRA, the real IRA or whichever IRA have killed many ppl. everyone knows it, they have bombed and killed selected ppl. the fact is those guys even though they have killed, they now form the government and sit in the parliament :S lol i cant figure out why America didnt attack Ireland, why wasnt Ireland put under embargo and why werent their leaders punished. you hanged sadam hussain yet you dont want to hang Jerry Adams cos he is "DEMOCRATIC" LOL blooody crap all of it. when it suits them they can call anyone terroist.

if a muslim killed all those kids in the school am sure the media would have potrayed him as a "terroist". everyone knows it and those who dont i suggest you open your eye close them and open them again. rub your eyes and welcome to World Cooperation of America

gtmash wrote:For once, I am glad I am here, where guns are totally banned. Some places, like America, believe in the right to bear arms more than the bible itself. I didn't know European countries allowed private guns.

Gun's aren't banned here for nationals, but they 'can't' carry them around. They are supposed to be kept and used only in the shooting clubs, I think? Also a good friend of mine had contacts where you could go into the desert and shoot whatever guns you wanted up to fully automatic machineguns (no, he wasn't Colombian or Afghan!).

Anyone here that remembers the first introduction of road speed cameras on SZR will recall some were riddled with bullet holes. Good way to vent your frustration I guess....

Now they reported that the kid was menthal disturbed and he anounced what he will do one day b4 in a internetchat...so bad

outcome of playing Doom, Quake and like minded violent games. I've seen guys who actually seemd hypnotized and unresponsive after hours of playing such violent games.

the computer and internet are the worst inventions in human history. The consequences of its disadvantages outdo and have a more rippling effect that that of its advantages.

TheChoosen wrote:Now they reported that the kid was menthal disturbed and he anounced what he will do one day b4 in a internetchat...so bad

Like the kids in Finland last year. It's so tragic. It makes you wonder if they really wanted to do it or not. The world is going mad.

michaeldubai wrote:outcome of playing Doom, Quake and like minded violent games. I've seen guys who actually seemd hypnotized and unresponsive after hours of playing such violent games.

the computer and internet are the worst inventions in human history. The consequences of its disadvantages outdo and have a more rippling effect that that of its advantages.

There are huge studies going on about that I know. Kids in my day played cowboys and indians, british and germans, etc etc, had as many toy guns and plastic knives as they could carry and in our back gardens we killed each other a hundred times a day in our heads, but we weren't psychotic. It's far more than just video games, I'm 100 percent sure.

But sure, any prolonged 'solo' use of a computer seems to make a lot of people 'zone out' and even get grumpy, I agree. Not just playing computer games. It's a very unsociable habit I (he says while getting his daily VDU tan top-up...).

Quake and Doon are harmless, you "only"shoot aliens, but games like Counter Strike you shoot on ppl

TheChoosen wrote:Quake and Doon are harmless, you "only"shoot aliens, but games like Counter Strike you shoot on ppl

But I still don't believe that makes any kid want to kill someone. A friend of mine, he was 19 or 20 years old, used to drive go-karts. he said it was his release, and it meant that when he got in a car he didn't drive like a lunatic. I think maybe blasting a few baddies on a screen when you're in a mood gets rid of aggressive impulses, not increases them. There's far worse violence shown in films, and that's usually far more realistic. De-sensitising the whole world, not just kids.

Speedhump wrote:

TheChoosen wrote:Quake and Doon are harmless, you "only"shoot aliens, but games like Counter Strike you shoot on ppl

But I still don't believe that makes any kid want to kill someone. A friend of mine, he was 19 or 20 years old, used to drive go-karts. he said it was his release, and it meant that when he got in a car he didn't drive like a lunatic. I think maybe blasting a few baddies on a screen when you're in a mood gets rid of aggressive impulses, not increases them. There's far worse violence shown in films, and that's usually far more realistic. De-sensitising the whole world, not just kids.

True. The only movies I watch are action movies. And every video game out there has violence. Does anyone really think the Khmer Rouge and the Taliban were violent because they watched too much Die Hard and played GTA?

gtmash wrote:

Speedhump wrote:

TheChoosen wrote:Quake and Doon are harmless, you "only"shoot aliens, but games like Counter Strike you shoot on ppl

But I still don't believe that makes any kid want to kill someone. A friend of mine, he was 19 or 20 years old, used to drive go-karts. he said it was his release, and it meant that when he got in a car he didn't drive like a lunatic. I think maybe blasting a few baddies on a screen when you're in a mood gets rid of aggressive impulses, not increases them. There's far worse violence shown in films, and that's usually far more realistic. De-sensitising the whole world, not just kids.

True. The only movies I watch are action movies. And every video game out there has violence. Does anyone really think the Khmer Rouge and the Taliban were violent because they watched too much Die Hard and played GTA?

I don't think there will ever be agreement on the causes. The moralists are too deeply entrenched and the pro-gamers usually don't represent themselves too well.

I think the world is becoming too desensitized to violence, and children are being ignored and consequently are lacking the emotional stability needed to grow into "normal" adults. Leave your kids to be babysat by violent TV shows and video games, and leave them to socialize on the internet but not in person with other kids and then wonder why they turn out screwed up? I am most certainly going to be one of those "un-cool" parents who doesn't allow her children to watch violent shows and play violent video games. My aunt does it with her 3 kids and tightly controls the internet use for her teen daughter. The kids are turning out just fine, even if a bit embarrassed with friends once in a while because of the rules.

As for access to weapons, this is a tough subject, because many countries have a hunting culture and it isn't uncommon for a family member to have hunting rifles in the house - obtained legally. However, in countries like the US (and in the case of the US shooting), it is amazing that people can legally get their hands on semi-automatic and automatic weapons. Those are purely for killing humans.

Yes I said above about the desensitisation of the world as a whole. It's irreversable I think. Also about the ignoring of kids, but that's not parent's faults now any more than it used to be, with both parents working and then coming home to work some more. The problem is more that the grandparents have been shunted off to a retirement home or stay in their own accommodation, not living with the family and not being there to spend time with their grandkids every day. That's the modern world and that's what has gone missing.

Also, kanelli, I don't know if you ever notice this, but kids that are well behaved when young can turn rebellious later when there is less control possible on them, and kids that start out crazy often calm down in their teens (if parenting is good)? I tend to think that all kids have a certain amount of 'freedom' they need to express, and it will come out one way or other, either early or late. If they don't get to let rip (or project onto things like Tom and Jerry cartoons) then the repressed emotions will just turn bad inside.

....or is that just my own experience?

I think that is definitely true that other family members like grandparents, or even the community as a whole aren't really part of taking care of the young when both parents need to work to keep the family afloat. In the old days that was the case, but now many families just manage in their nuclear unit.

All the examples I have seen of wild teens were ones where they were not given enough discipline as children. The parents didn't keep any consistency and they didn't interact with their children well. I think children raised in an attachment parenting style tend fare better because the parents have been respectful and taught their kids to be respectful as well. If you set a good foundation and see it through, then the kids shouldn't run astray. Kids who go off to university and had parents always making decisions for them might have some problems with good decision-making once away from constant parental contact, and that is a recipe for disaster too.

Actually, these teens that are doing the shooting weren't really "wild" though. They had emotional problems when dealing with others. Many had a hate for the human race and didn't have faith in others. What has happened to them to make them feel this way? Some say bullying...

kanelli wrote:I think that is definitely true that other family members like grandparents, or even the community as a whole aren't really part of taking care of the young when both parents need to work to keep the family afloat. In the old days that was the case, but now many families just manage in their nuclear unit.

All the examples I have seen of wild teens were ones where they were not given enough discipline as children. The parents didn't keep any consistency and they didn't interact with their children well. I think children raised in an attachment parenting style tend fare better because the parents have been respectful and taught their kids to be respectful as well. If you set a good foundation and see it through, then the kids shouldn't run astray. Kids who go off to university and had parents always making decisions for them might have some problems with good decision-making once away from constant parental contact, and that is a recipe for disaster too.

Actually, these teens that are doing the shooting weren't really "wild" though. They had emotional problems when dealing with others. Many had a hate for the human race and didn't have faith in others. What has happened to them to make them feel this way? Some say bullying...

I think bullying woud be one of the end products of their self-imposed ostracism from society, not the source. These kids seem to have cut themselves off from the human race. They dont feel part of it and so resent it and want to punish it. I can only guess at the reasons but I think if allowed to make too many choices for themselves and treated too much as 'young adults' rather than confused and hormonal teenagers they can simply grow the wrong way through the excess of freedom. My daughter is about to start studying psychology, I'll see what she has to say in a few years time about it!