German teenage gunman warned of plans in chatroom

Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:37am EDT

BERLIN, March 12 (Reuters) - A teenager who killed 15 people in a shooting spree in southwest Germany on Wednesday warned a chatroom partner about his plans the night before the killings, a German official said.

Heribert Rech, interior minister of the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, told a news conference on Thursday that a 17-year old in Bavaria had communicated with Tim Kretschmer in a chatroom on the night before he entered his former school and killed students and teachers.

"I've had enough," Rech quoted from the chatroom message, which appeared to have been left by Kretschmer only a few hours before the massacre in the town of Winnenden.

"Always the same. Everybody's laughing at me. No one sees my potential. I'm serious. I have weapons and I will go to my former school in the morning and have a proper barbecue. Maybe I'll get away. Listen out. You will hear of me tomorrow. Remember the place's name: Winnenden."

Rech said Kretschmer's chatroom partner had not taken the message seriously at the time but had told his father after he saw the reports of the shootings.

Kretschmer, who police say shot himself after his killing spree, had been treated for depression last year but had broken off his treatment in September, Rech said. (Reporting by Kerstin Gehmlich; Editing Jon Boyle)




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