jjcollins
DIS Veteran
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- Aug 26, 1999
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Eighteen people have been killed after two gunmen went on the rampage at a school in the east German city of Erfurt.
One of the assailants is dead - he was a former student at the school
Klaus-Peter Pohl
Erfurt police
One of the two, a former student of the Gutenberg school who was only recently expelled, is now dead, said police spokesman Klaus-Peter Pohl.
It remains unclear whether he killed himself or was caught in cross-fire.
Police have not yet established contact with the other gunman.
There are reports that he is holed up in a classroom with as many as 28 hostages, two of whom may be seriously wounded.
A passer-by told German television he had seen a banner hanging from a window with the message: "Help!"
Two teachers, one male and one female, were among the first to die in the shooting spree, which started just before 1100 (0900 GMT). A police woman was shot and killed shortly after arriving at the scene.
Local radio cited a pupil as saying that a fellow-pupil pulled the gun as he was about to sit a morning maths exam, but the report remains unconfirmed.
Second school attack
The majority of the 750 pupils are believed to have been evacuated from the building, a grammar school for children aged between 10 and 19.
Police sealed off the area
At least 20, however, remain unaccounted for.
Correspondents say that outside the building, a police officer with a megaphone urged parents to register their children's names before leaving the scene, while groups of dazed and shocked students huddled in the street, hugging and crying.
A local courtroom has been set up as a meeting point for parents and children.
The incident comes just two months after a similar attack in southern Germany, when a disgruntled former pupil opened fire in his old school, leaving dead and wounded behind.
The 22-year-old man killed the headmaster of a school in Freising near Munich, before blowing himself up.
jj........
One of the assailants is dead - he was a former student at the school
Klaus-Peter Pohl
Erfurt police
One of the two, a former student of the Gutenberg school who was only recently expelled, is now dead, said police spokesman Klaus-Peter Pohl.
It remains unclear whether he killed himself or was caught in cross-fire.
Police have not yet established contact with the other gunman.
There are reports that he is holed up in a classroom with as many as 28 hostages, two of whom may be seriously wounded.
A passer-by told German television he had seen a banner hanging from a window with the message: "Help!"
Two teachers, one male and one female, were among the first to die in the shooting spree, which started just before 1100 (0900 GMT). A police woman was shot and killed shortly after arriving at the scene.
Local radio cited a pupil as saying that a fellow-pupil pulled the gun as he was about to sit a morning maths exam, but the report remains unconfirmed.
Second school attack
The majority of the 750 pupils are believed to have been evacuated from the building, a grammar school for children aged between 10 and 19.
Police sealed off the area
At least 20, however, remain unaccounted for.
Correspondents say that outside the building, a police officer with a megaphone urged parents to register their children's names before leaving the scene, while groups of dazed and shocked students huddled in the street, hugging and crying.
A local courtroom has been set up as a meeting point for parents and children.
The incident comes just two months after a similar attack in southern Germany, when a disgruntled former pupil opened fire in his old school, leaving dead and wounded behind.
The 22-year-old man killed the headmaster of a school in Freising near Munich, before blowing himself up.
jj........
