A gunman shot three people and injured a fourth before killing himself in a Bavarian town yesterday, apparently seeking revenge for losing his job.
Shortly before 8 a.m. the 22-year-old man, dressed in army fatigues, took a taxi to a home decorations factory where he used to work in Eching and shot his former boss, aged 38, and a 40-year-old-employee.
He then took the same taxi to his former school in the nearby town of Freising, north of Munich. After firing shots in the school car-park he entered the principal's office and asked for a former teacher by name.
On being told the teacher was sick, the man shot dead the 52-year-old principal and injured another teacher by shooting him in the face. A female employee who witnessed the shooting was said to be in shock and another male student was injured.
The gunman ran through the school complex shooting wildly and detonated at least two home-made pipe bombs.
The alarm was raised and police surrounded the school, while helicopters searched for signs of the gunman.
Close on 400 students, aged between 11 and 18, were escorted from the building and a class trapped in one of the buildings had to be rescued by armed police.
After a four-hour stand-off, special commandos discovered the gunman lying dead in the school building. His body was badly burned and police suspect the man may have blown himself up with a grenade. "He was armed to the teeth," one officer said.
"It wasn't your typical attack because the man targeted his victims very carefully," Mr Günther Beckstein, the Bavarian interior minister, said at the scene.
Police said the man was dismissed recently and had a police record for shoplifting.
"We heard at least four explosions but we thought it was just some kind of fire drill," one shocked student said.
"I can't believe the headmaster was murdered. He was always very nice to us, he always talked about his family," a tearful student said.
Such shooting are uncommon but not unknown in Germany.
