16-year-old arrested after attack at Bavarian school – two girls seriously injured
A 16-year-old youth was arrested after an attack at a gymnasium in Schongau, Bavaria. Two girls sustained serious injuries.
16-year-old arrested after attack at Bavarian school – two girls seriously injured
A 16-year-old youth was arrested on Wednesday in Schongau in Upper Bavaria after seriously injuring two girls at a secondary school. The incident occurred at the Welfen-Gymnasium in the municipality of around 12,000 inhabitants north of the Alps.
According to police spokesman Michael Spessa, the first emergency calls came in at approximately 12.50 local time. Officers responded immediately with a large contingent. Armed police units and a fire service vehicle were visible in front of the school building, and a helicopter circled over the town.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told a regional television station that the suspected perpetrator had been carrying a knife and a firearm. Police were able to take the youth into custody at the scene. According to Spessa, there were no indications of a second person involved.
Two girls were taken to hospital with serious injuries. Spessa expressed cautious optimism about their health condition, saying that one could say with a certain degree of caution that their lives were not in danger. However, investigators reckoned the number of injured could still increase.
The motive for the attack remains unclear. Police are investigating in all directions. "Everything is possible, from a crime of passion to a rampage with no apparent reason," Spessa explained. Officers were keeping all possibilities open.
Following the incident, the area around the school was cordoned off over a wide perimeter. A contact point was established at the local fire station for parents and relatives of the school's pupils.
Serious acts of violence at educational institutions are rare in Germany, but do occur occasionally. Last year, a 45-year-old teacher at a vocational school in Essen was seriously injured. The main suspect, a 17-year-old from Kosovo, was shot by police and later arrested. The prosecution accuses him of acting from jihadist motives. In January 2022, an 18-year-old German shot a student at Heidelberg University and injured three others before taking his own life. In March 2009, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer killed 15 people at his former school in Winnenden, including nine pupils and three teachers, before committing suicide. In 2002, 16 people died in a rampage in Erfurt, including twelve teachers and two pupils.
Source: TheJournal.ie