School Shooting near Stuttgart
 

Link to a BBC story on the school shooting near Stuttgart.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7936817.stm

I picked this one because of the bit near the end where it talks of some students jumping out of windows when the shooting started.

We've talked about that a number of times here vs the "lock down" mentality.

Links from other stories mention the 17 year old shooter got the weapon/weapons from his parents legal "arsenal" of 11 weapons.

Up to 16 now and could go higher !!!

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports:

Zehn Schüler einer Realschule im Alter von 14 und 15 Jahren, drei Lehrerinnen und drei Passanten hat der Amokläufer von Winnenden getötet, bevor ihn die Polizei erschießen konnte. Ministerpräsident Günther Oettinger sprach von einer „grauenvollen und in keiner Form erklärbaren Tat“

The madman of Winnenden killed ten 14-15 year old pupils of a six-form high school, three teachers and three bystanders, before the police could shoot him. Prime Minister Günther Oettinger spoke of a "greyful (gruesome, somber, overcast) and in no way explainable act.“

For those who aren't aware of the German school system, students attend compulsory Form-1 (elementary) school through 6th grade, and then move to one of the following (which is also known as a Form-6 or post-elementary school):

* Hauptschule - designed for students going into a trade (e.g., carpentry, masonry, etc.) and is finished at the 9th or 10th grade.
* Realschule - designed for students going into a profession and is finished at the 10th grade.
* Berufsschule - designed for accompanying an apprenticeship after Haupt- or Realschule; mandatory to age 18.
* Gymnasium - designed for students going to university/college and finishes at the 12th (G8) or 13th (G9) class.

NOTE: The first cut for college is 6th grade and if you don't make the 'cut' you cannot attend college in Germany, which is free to qualified students.

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Thanks for sharing that tidbit, it is interesting.

Very interesting,didn't realize how they run their school system...........

GB TFS :munchin

da
 

The police here in a Boeblingen kept the stuttgart area aware of the situation and ensured no US civilians or personnel were injured or killed...which was good. Glad to see they are watching out for us. Pretty crazy it was so close to us as well.

just to clear this up: most schools have the first "cut" after grade four. It is not true that students who don't make the first cut are barred from attending college. It is possible to 'work your way up', i.e. finish Hauptschule, then go on to Realschule and finally Gymnasium. It happens all the time. Furthermore univeristy/college in Germany is not free in most states (Hessen is the exception). The public universities usually charge a tuition of 500€ per semester.

Didn't mean to detract from the main subject or hijack the thread, just wanted to point this out.

Mike in Munich,
My condolences friend. It sounds like your boys did a fine job by exterminating this P.O.S. Hope all is well with you and yours!

Not a detraction at all. Thanks for the updated info. Obviously some things have changed a bit since my time at the Rheinisches Friedrch-Wilhelms-Universitat nearly 20 years ago.

Richard's $.02 :munchin

[QUOTE=Pete;254207]Link to a BBC story on the school shooting near Stuttgart.

Something like that's always a shock when it hits the airwaves. They had another incident just like that one in Erfurt, Germany in '02. Not to be cynical but when something like that happens in the U.S. it's not so much a suprise when you consider the amount of firearms that are here and that are so easily accessible. It's a little harder to own firearms in Europe but all it takes for a disaster like this one is a weapon and a defective mind. Guess it can happen anywhere. This story touched me a little because I've lived in both Stuttgart and Erfurt.

[QUOTE=mojaveman;254435]Alot of the germans were simply stunned. They all talked about how that 02 incident was a mirror of this one. It was approx 20 min away from us. The boy was 17 and his father was a sports shooter- and owned the same amount of guns. He had over 300 rounds and went into two classrooms and did failure drills on every single WOMAN in the room. He only shot 1 boy and that wasnt planned supposidly. Very very sick individual. We wondered if this was done with a pistol (incredible accuracy if so) but turns out it was an M4 style rifle. Seems like a crazy situation with no guns in germany and all...