Erfurt massacre
| Erfurt massacre | |
|---|---|
Gutenberg Gymnasium
|
|
| Location | Erfurt, Germany |
| Coordinates | 50°58′53″N 11°00′53″E / 50.98139°N 11.01472°ECoordinates: 50°58′53″N 11°00′53″E / 50.98139°N 11.01472°E |
| Date | 26 April 2002 c. 10:58 a.m. – c. 11:17 a.m. (CEST) |
| Target | Gutenberg-Gymnasium |
|
Attack type
|
School shooting, mass shooting, murder-suicide, massacre |
| Weapons | |
| Deaths | 17 (including the perpetrator) |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
1 |
| Perpetrator | Robert Steinhäuser |
| Motive | Expulsion |
The Erfurt massacre was a school massacre that occurred on 26 April 2002 at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium in the Thuringia State capital Erfurt, Germany. (A German Gymnasium is a secondary school similar to a British Grammar school or a US Prep school.) The gunman, 19-year-old expelled student Robert Steinhäuser, shot and killed 16 people: 13 staff members, two students, and one police officer, before committing suicide. One person was also wounded by a bullet fragment.
While the motive is unknown, media reports assumed it to be related to Steinhäuser's expulsion from school without qualifications and his subsequent feeling of victimhood and hopelessness regarding his future job opportunities.
Robert Steinhäuser (born 22 January 1983) was a student of the Gutenberg Gymnasium until early October 2001. At the end of September 2001 he had spent a few days away from school, for which he presented a mandatory medical certificate which was quickly identified as a forgery. Because of this forgery Steinhäuser was expelled.
Due to the regulations used in the State of Thuringia (German: Thüringen) at this time, Steinhäuser on expulsion found himself with no qualifications at all, and therefore very limited job prospects.
On the day of the shooting, before leaving his residence at his usual time, Steinhäuser armed himself with a 9mm Glock 17 and a Mossberg 590 Mariner 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, which was unusable due to an earlier handling error. When he entered the campus, he went into the lavatories to change his clothes, and then donned a black ninja-style outfit.
The shooting started at approximately 10:58 a.m. Steinhäuser had moved from classroom to classroom, pausing briefly each time in the doorway to shoot the teacher, then moving on to the next room. According to students, he ignored them and aimed only for the teachers and administrators, although two students were killed by shots fired through a locked door.
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