German authorities say a teenager who shot and killed 15 people
Wednesday announced his intention to do so in an Internet chatroom the
night before his rampage.
Authorities quote 17-year-old Tim
Kretschmer as saying, "I have weapons here and tomorrow I will go to my
old school. You will hear about me tomorrow."
Baden-Wuerttemberg
State Interior Minister Heribet Rech, who described Kretschmer as
"completely unremarkable," said Thursday the chat involved a
16-year-old from Bavaria. Rech said the Bavarian boy showed the chat
to his father after he heard about Wednesday's massacre. The father
then contacted authorities.
The new revelations emerged as Germany mourned the victims and sought details of the killer's motives.
Kretschmer
killed eight schoolgirls, one boy and three female teachers. He later
randomly killed three bystanders, before committing suicide during a
shootout with police in a neighboring town.
Television
footage showed churches across much of Germany crowded with mourners
late Wednesday. Flags across Germany flew at half-staff Thursday. The
front page of the local newspaper in Winnenden, where the killings
occurred, was a solid black with the word "Why?"
German new
reports say the shooter came from a prosperous family. They described
him as obsessed with computer shooting games, and said he had few
friends.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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