A 23-year-old woman died from her injuries following a shooting attack at the Heidelberg University, Mannheim’s police chief Siegfried Kollmar said at a press conference in the wake of the Monday attack. Three more people – all of them students – were injured in the incident.
The gunman was only identified as an “18-year-old German”. The suspect was allegedly a biology student at the very same university, German media reported.
Armed with two weapons, including a shotgun, the teenager entered the lecture hall when there were around 30 people there, Kollmar said. The suspect then made several shots before fleeing and taking his own life. Some 400 police officers arrived at the scene in just six minutes after being alerted about the shooting but the suspect was already deceased by that time, the police chief noted.
It is unclear if the gunman shot at random or targeted someone in particular. The attacker had no criminal record and was previously unknown to the police. Preliminary reports suggest that he did not have a gun license, but managed to obtain firearms abroad several days before the shooting. It’s so far unclear how exactly the teen got hold of the gun.
While it’s currently believed there was no religious or a political motive behind the attack, officers searching the suspect’s apartment in Mannheim found a WhatsApp message that reportedly read: “people must be punished.”
The message was apparently written shortly before the attack. According to Kollmar, the police are now verifying the authenticity of the text. Some German media reported that the incident might have been linked to a “relationship” issue.
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