Erfurt massacre

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Location of Erfurt in Germany

Erfurt massacre
Location	Erfurt, Germany
Target(s)	Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium
Date	Friday, April 26, 2002
Attack type	School shooting, mass murder, murder-suicide, massacre
Weapon(s)	Glock 17
Deaths	17 (including the perpetrator) [2]
Injured	7
Perpetrator(s)	Robert Steinhäuser

The Erfurt massacre was a school shooting that occurred on April 26, 2002 at the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany. Sixteen people were killed before the perpetrator committed suicide. The victims comprised 13 school staff (12 teachers and one administrator), two students and one police officer. In addition, seven people were injured.

1 Perpetrator and firearms
2 The shooting
3 Rumors about a second shooter
4 Education laws
5 Reactions
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Main article: Robert Steinhäuser

Gutenberg Gymnasium

The perpetrator was Robert Steinhäuser, who had been expelled a few months prior to the shootings for missing lessons and forging excuse notes. Steinhäuser had covered up his expulsion from his family and would leave home everyday with his parents under the impression he was going to school. In the shooting he used a 9mm Glock 17 and had a pump-action shotgun strapped onto his back, but never used it. He had a license for both firearms. In all, 71 rounds were fired.

Although pistol-grips for shotguns were illegal in Germany, Steinhäuser's turned out to be broken.

A memorial plaque to the shooting

On the day of the shooting, Steinhäuser left home the same time he always did, and told his parents he had an exam. Steinhäuser got changed into a black ninja-style outfit in the lavatories of his school and started the shooting at approximately 11:00am.

He moved from classroom to classroom, pausing briefly each time in the doorway to shoot the teacher, then moving onto the next room. According to students, he ignored them and aimed only for the teachers, although two students were killed by shots fired through a locked door.

Five minutes after the shooting began, police were arriving on the scene. Soon after, Steinhäuser aimed from a window and shot a police officer in the head, killing him instantly. Before his suicide, he was confronted by one of his teachers, Rainer Heise, who was said to have stopped Steinhäuser with the words, "Drück ab! Wenn du mich jetzt erschießt, dann guck mir in die Augen!" ("Pull the trigger! If you shoot me now, then look into my eyes!"), Steinhäuser is said to have pulled off his mask and answered, "Für heute reicht's, Herr Heise!" ("That's enough for today, Mr Heise!").

According to Mr Heise, he then talked to Steinhäuser for a short amount of time, luring him into the doorway of an empty room. When Steinhäuser was in the doorway, Heise pushed Steinhäuser into the room and quickly locked the door. Steinhäuser committed suicide shortly after and his body was found by police a few hours after the shooting. [3]

Steinhäuser's last words were Für heute reicht's ("this is enough for today") and are also the title of a very controversial book about the massacre written by Ines Geipel, that revealed several mistakes made by the police on the case.

Heise was considered to be a hero by some for locking Steinhäuser in a room and stopping the killing, but later began to receive some backlash from the public.^[1]

Since the incident there have always been rumors about a second shooter, who some witnesses believed they had seen. However, in April 2004 the Gasser Commission, which was convoked by the Thuringian administration, excluded an accomplice, but not an accessory.

In early 2004 a person on the Internet had maintained to be a friend of Steinhäuser's and to have known about his plans before the massacre. On the 5th of July 2005 this person, a 36 year old, was convicted of pretense of a crime and condemned to a fine, as in fact, he did not know anything at all.

The education laws in Thuringia were heavily criticised. In contrast to most other German states, they had no Year 10 examinations (Realschulabschluss) at the Gymnasium (High School). Students who failed their Year 12 examinations (Abitur) or were expelled before (as in Steinhäuser's case) had no graduation at all. This law was changed in 2003, after which students could take a voluntary Year 10 examination (Besondere Leistungsfeststellung) also at Gymnasium. Since 2004 these examinations are compulsory for all students.

On the day of the massacre, the German government discussed raising the legal age level on firearm ownership from 18 to 21, while others pushed for a ban of firearms.

Steinhäuser's family issued a statement to news sources and said that it "will forever be sorry that our son and brother has brought such horrifying suffering to the victims and their relatives, the people of Erfurt and Thuringia, and all over Germany." [4]