Two 13-year-old girls have been seriously wounded and a 16-year-old suspect arrested after an attack at a secondary school in the southern German state of Bavaria on Wednesday, according to police and local media.
‘The arrested individual is a 16-year-old juvenile,’ police confirmed in a post on X, later adding that there ‘are no indications of additional individuals involved in the offence’. They later added that this was a ’16-year-old boy’.
While the full extent of casualties is still being clarified, the two girls were confirmed as ‘seriously’ wounded, after police initially said ‘several’ people were injured.
The perpetrator appeared to have deliberately targeted the Welfen grammar school in the town of Schongau in a suspected ‘rampage’, a police spokeswoman told AFP.
She was unable to confirm press reports according to which the assailant used a knife in the attack.
More than 15 patrol cars were dispatched to the Welfen-Gymnasium in Schongau, southwest of Munich.
A police spokesperson previously told Bavarian broadcaster BR there were indications of a possible shooting spree, as officers urged the public to avoid the area.
The alarm was raised around 12.50pm local time, during school hours.
The Support Unit (USK), a specialized unit of the Bavarian police, is moving through the grounds of the Welfen Gymnasiu
More than 15 patrol cars were dispatched to the Welfen-Gymnasium in Schongau, southwest of Munich, according to police
The alleged perpetrator apparently attempted to flee the scene but was apprehended a short time later
Investigators are currently determining whether the suspect is a current or former student of the school. Police said they are ‘currently assuming that the perpetrator acted alone’.
A police spokesperson told German outlet BILD: ‘We cannot rule out the possibility of a school shooting.’
The incident is believed to have taken place partly outside and partly in the immediate vicinity of the high school.
The alleged perpetrator apparently attempted to flee the scene but was apprehended a short time later.
A police helicopter was deployed during the search for the suspect.
Schongau is a small town on the banks of the Lech River in western Upper Bavaria, just north of the Alps, with a population of more than 12,000 people.
Police advised the public to continue to stay away from the scene.
‘A major police operation is underway,’ they had warned in an earlier post. ‘We are on site with numerous forces.’
A support centre for relatives and parents of students has been set up at the fire station on Bahnhofstrasse.
Security sources initially reported four injuries, but the total amount of victims has not yet been confirmed.
Police said ‘several people’ were injured without giving an exact figure.
Welfen-Gymnasium is part of a school complex. A secondary school and a middle school are also located nearby but were not affected.
Last month, a 45-year-old man in an apparent child custody dispute was the suspected shooter at a shelter for mothers and children in northern Germany.
The shooting on June 29 left six people dead.
Several people were wounded and a suspect was arrested in an apparent violent attack at a secondary school in the southern German state of Bavaria on Wednesday, police said
Heavily armed police officers guard at the Welfen High School, Schongau, Germany
The man had an appointment at the shelter in Stade, close to the port city of Hamburg, in the morning before opening fire midday.
All the victims – four women and two men – were employees of the facility. The man’s three-month-old daughter and the mother are safe.
Mass shootings are rare in Germany, especially when compared to the United States.
In 2023, a gunman in Hamburg shot dead six people before killing himself at a Jehovah’s Witness worship hall.
In 2016, an 18-year-old German-Iranian man who was obsessed with mass killings killed at least nine people in Munich.
While serious violence at schools is unusual in Germany, it is not unknown.
Last year, a 17-year-old seriously wounded a 45-year-old teacher at a vocational college in the western city of Essen and was shot by police before his arrest.
In 2002, a 19-year-old gunman killed 16 people, including 12 teachers and two pupils, at a school in the eastern city of Erfurt.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login