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| German gunman 'warned of attack' | German gunman 'warned of attack' |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A teenage gunman who killed 15 people in a German school and nearby had given an internet warning before he went on a shooting rampage, German officials say. | A teenage gunman who killed 15 people in a German school and nearby had given an internet warning before he went on a shooting rampage, German officials say. |
| They say Tim Kretschmer, aged 17, gave the warning in a chatroom before the killings in Winnenden on Wednesday. | They say Tim Kretschmer, aged 17, gave the warning in a chatroom before the killings in Winnenden on Wednesday. |
| Kretschmer killed 12 people in the school and three others in the nearby town of Wendlingen. He then shot himself after a shoot-out with police. | Kretschmer killed 12 people in the school and three others in the nearby town of Wendlingen. He then shot himself after a shoot-out with police. |
| Police say chatroom users did not take the comments seriously at the time. | Police say chatroom users did not take the comments seriously at the time. |
| At a news conference, Baden-Wurttemberg's Interior Minister Heribert Rech said the gunman had spoken of his attack in a chatroom on a German internet portal. | At a news conference, Baden-Wurttemberg's Interior Minister Heribert Rech said the gunman had spoken of his attack in a chatroom on a German internet portal. |
| You will hear from me tomorrow. Just remember the name of the place, Winnenden Tim Kretschmer German reaction to shootings class="" href="/1/hi/world/americas/7939727.stm">School shootings: Your stories | |
| He said the message read: "I've had enough. I'm fed up with this horrid life... Always the same". | He said the message read: "I've had enough. I'm fed up with this horrid life... Always the same". |
| "People are laughing at me... No-one sees my potential... I am scared, I have weapons here, and I will go to my former school tomorrow and then I will really do a grilling." | "People are laughing at me... No-one sees my potential... I am scared, I have weapons here, and I will go to my former school tomorrow and then I will really do a grilling." |
| The message then continued: "Possibly I get away, so keep your ears open, you will hear from me tomorrow. Just remember the name of the place, Winnenden." | The message then continued: "Possibly I get away, so keep your ears open, you will hear from me tomorrow. Just remember the name of the place, Winnenden." |
| Mr Rech said a German man alerted police about the internet warning after the school shooting. | Mr Rech said a German man alerted police about the internet warning after the school shooting. |
| The man said his teenage son told him about the warning only after seeing the news reports. He had not previously taken the threat seriously, responding to Kretschmer's post with "LOL", the chatroom shorthand for "laugh out loud". | |
| County police president Erwin Hetger has said he could not rule out the possibility that the killings could have been prevented if the serious nature of the message had been recognised earlier. | |
| Tributes | |
| Students and local people have been laying tributes at the schoolFlags were flying at half-mast across Germany on Thursday as a mark of respect for the victims of the shootings. | |
| Students and local people have also been gathering at the Albertville secondary school, where nine students and three teachers were killed. | |
| Many laid flowers, candles, CDs or letters as tributes to those who died. | |
| One man held a sign saying: "God, where were you?" | |
| "I don't know if I can stay at this school," said student Christin Pluengel. "Every time you enter, the memories come back." | |
| A local shop owner said his 15-year-old son attends the school and had hardly spoken since the attack. | |
| "I would have never thought that something like this could happen here," said Thomas Steininger. | |
| A counselling centre has been set up near to school to help people come to terms with the killings. | |
| Alexandra Winter, one of the counsellors, told Reuters news agency that many people would be afraid the events could happen again. | |
| "It's the flashbacks - a door opens, a man comes in with a gun. That image reappears every time someone opens a door to enter the room," she said. | |
| Psychiatric care | Psychiatric care |
| The internet warning is revealed | The internet warning is revealed |
| Officials say Kretschmer fired more than 100 shots during Wednesday's attack on his former school. | Officials say Kretschmer fired more than 100 shots during Wednesday's attack on his former school. |
| Nine students - eight of them girls - and three teachers died at the Albertville secondary school, many of them shot at close range. | Nine students - eight of them girls - and three teachers died at the Albertville secondary school, many of them shot at close range. |
| Mr Rech said students appeared to have had little time to react. | Mr Rech said students appeared to have had little time to react. |
| "When their bodies were later found, some of them still had pens in their hands," he said. | "When their bodies were later found, some of them still had pens in their hands," he said. |
| Germany's Bild newspaper quoted one of the injured students, a 15-year-old named Patrick, as saying they had turned over desks to use as cover, then barricaded the door once Kretschmer left. | |
| "I saw that I was hit - in the back, in the arm and in the cheek," he said. | |
| The paper reported others students as saying he had gone into one classroom three times, asking: "Aren't you all dead?" | |
| Hans-Dieter Wagner, police director for the Esslingen area, told the news conference Kretschmer had fled the school on foot. | Hans-Dieter Wagner, police director for the Esslingen area, told the news conference Kretschmer had fled the school on foot. |
| TIM KRETSCHMER Left Albertville school last year after passing examsOfficials said he was an ordinary pupil who had received good reports from schoolGerman media reported he had begun an apprenticeshipLived in the village of LeutenbachA keen table-tennis player, who aspired to become professional class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7937554.stm">How school shooting unfolded class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7938402.stm">Attack raises gun-law questions class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7938484.stm">Boy was 'arrogant, not aggressive' In the following three hours, he injured a passerby and shot dead an employee at a psychiatric clinic. He then shot and killed an employee and a customer at a car showroom in a nearby town. | |
| Officials say he still had more than 130 rounds of ammunition left when he was cornered by police and shot himself. | Officials say he still had more than 130 rounds of ammunition left when he was cornered by police and shot himself. |
| The officials also revealed that Kretschmer received psychiatric care for depression in 2008. They said he was meant to continue an out-patient treatment but refused. | |
| However, investigators said they could not speak of a connection between that treatment and Kretschmer's rampage. | However, investigators said they could not speak of a connection between that treatment and Kretschmer's rampage. |
| Prosecutors say they may charge Kretschmer's father with failing to secure the gun used by the teenager in the attack. | Prosecutors say they may charge Kretschmer's father with failing to secure the gun used by the teenager in the attack. |
| German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he could not see how a change in the country's weapons laws would have prevented what happened. | German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he could not see how a change in the country's weapons laws would have prevented what happened. |
| "We are checking everything but our arms law is very strict," he said. | "We are checking everything but our arms law is very strict," he said. |
| But he said Germany had to consider whether tighter controls on access to violent imagery were needed. | But he said Germany had to consider whether tighter controls on access to violent imagery were needed. |