German gunman 'warned of attack'

News Resource BBC

German gunman 'warned of attack'

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.

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.

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.

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."
 
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.

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.
 
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