Day of Blood

Lone killers shot more than 20 people in Europe and the USA

Sixteen people became victims of the bloody drama that took place in the quiet town of Winnenden in southern Germany, near Stuttgart. As the police were able to establish, yesterday morning a young man dressed in a black camouflage uniform entered the Albertville School building, where more than a thousand people study, and silently shot everyone who stood in his way. Nine students and three teachers died immediately on the spot, dozens of wounded were taken to hospitals, many of them are in serious condition. Panic began among the parents of the students, as many did not know whether their children were alive or not.

After the crime was committed, the killer left the school building unhindered and shot another person on the territory of a nearby clinic. The police spent the whole day searching for the criminal. The identity of the shooter was immediately established: he turned out to be a former student of this school, 17-year-old Tim K. The police stormed the house of the attacker’s parents. It turned out that the young man’s father belongs to a sports shooting club and legally keeps 16 small arms at home. During the search, it was determined that one weapon was missing. According to the Tagesspiegel newspaper, the killer could have fired from an Italian Beretta pistol. In addition, it turned out that the teenager's access to the "home arsenal" was not properly limited.

Sniffer dogs and helicopters were involved in the large-scale search for the criminal. All roads were blocked for capture. Drivers of vehicles were categorically prohibited from taking passengers into their cars and giving rides to unknown people. The historical part of Winnenden was cordoned off, but, as it turned out later, the killer managed to break through the cordon and escape in a stolen car. However, he was soon discovered in a supermarket 40 km from the city and surrounded. However, Tim K. was in no hurry to give up; he resisted, taking a store visitor hostage. A shootout ensued, as a result of which the criminal himself and two bystanders were killed; the hostage was not injured.

The tragedy at the Albertville school, which is just an hour's drive from the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, shocked not only the people of Germany, but the whole of Europe. German President Horst Köhler said yesterday that he was shocked by the bloody massacre in Winnenden. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel is also deeply shocked by the incident, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said. At the same time, he said that Angela Merkel and all members of the German cabinet express condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims.

The incident in Germany occurred just a few hours after an unknown person committed a bloody massacre in the US state of Alabama, killing ten people, including the shooter himself. Lost his job, 35-year-old metallurgist Michael McLendon killed his mother and set her house on fire, then shot five more relatives in cold blood. The criminal also shot two women and a child, after which he shot himself on the territory of his former factory.

Nina GUGUSHVILI