German school shooting: 16 dead :(

[Kirsten]

A terrible thing happened on Wednesday this week in the small German town Winnenden (near Stuttgart, very close to where my sister lives) and left the entire country in a state of shock and disbelief. 17-year-old Tim K. took one of his fathers weapons and entered his former school, where he shot 12 people (8 girls, 1 boy, and three teachers). When the police arrived several minutes later, he fled and killed three more people until he was surrounded by cops. When he realized there was no chance to escape, he killed himself.

Now the school has been closed for the time being, memorial services are held, and thousands of candles are lit in front of the school, and at the other places where people lost their lives.

Read the entire story here:
German rampage victims mostly female (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/11/germany.school.shooting/index.html)
Teacher 'sacrificed herself for student' (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/11/germany.suvivor/index.html)


Please say a little prayer for those who have lost their lives, and for the loved ones they left behind. Many parents are mourning their children these days...

Thanks,
Kirsten

[Sonia59]

Yes, it's terrible, I don't know what else to say, so sad... The day it happened, this was the first thing I heard at the news.

It seems that people planning to do such shootings often "advertise" it on Internet before they act...

[snowbelle15]

This is so sad. :(

[lvpets2002]

:( Yes I was saddened to have heard the Horrible News of this.. Its just so sad & sickining..

[Kirsten]

It seems that people planning to do such shootings often "advertise" it on Internet before they act...

Well, in fact, the internet message seems to have been a fake, at least this is what they said on tv today. But they are not sure yet.

But it seems it's always the quiet and shy people, young boys or men who feel they don't get the attention they deserve. In this case, there also seems to have been an underlying mental illness. It is said now that the boy was depressive, but cancelled his treatment. Also, he was an outsider. Someone from his school or neighborhood said "He made it easy for others not to like him". But obviously nobody ever noticed the high level of aggression and rage that must have built up inside of him.

Kirsten

[Karen]

How terribly sad.

[Catty1]

The grief that the parents and families and friends are feeling is beyond imagining.

Also, the parents of the shooter - their son is now dead, and his father had a legal collection of 14 guns, since he belonged to a gun club.

Many deep prayers for all that are suffering. :(

[lizbud]

This is so sad.:( It was a strange day. There was also a killing of 10
people in small town in Alabama the same day. Senseless violence.:(

[Medusa]

So many victims other than the obvious ones. When I read "he made it easy not to like him", it gave me chills. I'm in no way excusing the shooter's actions but we never know when just a smile and/or a simple act of kindness will help someone. How isolated and alone he must have felt and so many others had to pay the price because of it. So sad. Many prayers going up for the victims and their families. :(

[DJFyrewolf36]

Guns don't cause these problems, PEOPLE cause these problems. It is so sad to know that this young man felt he had no choice in his life but to be violent and now there are a lot more people suffering, including his parents who may or may not have known what he was planning on doing.

The way people are handling teenagers isn't working. How many teens commit suicide each day? The sad part is is a lot of it isn't considered "newsworthy" until something like this happens. My friends brother dressed in his finest clothes one day, grabbed his moms gun and shot himself in the school parking lot. It took 4 hours for someone to notice. Was there any news coverage? Nope. A kid, had a gun on school property and the news didn't care because he didn't hurt anyone else. Does that fact make it less tragic? I don't think so. When kids die due to violence (self inflicted or not) everyone needs to pay attention and everyone needs to figure out what they can do to help.

Sad sad sad :( My heart goes out to everyone affected by this tradgedy.

[Kirsten]

Also, the parents of the shooter - their son is now dead, and his father had a legal collection of 14 guns, since he belonged to a gun club.

Yes, I think nobody should forget that these parents also mourn a child - and they have to live with a certain feeling of guilt. As it seems, the father may be facing legal actions against him as one of his weapons wasn't locked away properly.

What's a bit strange is that they deny that their son was in psychotherapy. I heard a doctor of the clinic say that he was, and had five appointments there. Now the parents consider to sue the doctor, but I just cannot imagine that he had lied... I just don't get it. However, the parents' actions make it hard to feel nothing else but sympathy for them.


It was a strange day. There was also a killing of 10
people in small town in Alabama the same day. Senseless violence.

I saw that on the news later that day, very sad! :(



I'm in no way excusing the shooter's actions but we never know when just a smile and/or a simple act of kindness will help someone. How isolated and alone he must have felt and so many others had to pay the price because of it. So sad.

Yes, makes you wonder if something's terribly wrong these days! :( Now they're all talking about new laws on arms, or on banning shooter games, but I think what would actually help in the long run is encouraging people to treat others with more respect, to show more interest in others, so our society can heal...


My friends brother dressed in his finest clothes one day, grabbed his moms gun and shot himself in the school parking lot. It took 4 hours for someone to notice. Was there any news coverage? Nope. A kid, had a gun on school property and the news didn't care because he didn't hurt anyone else. Does that fact make it less tragic?

How very sad! :( :( :(

Kirsten