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Crime

Shooting scare at German school near Stuttgart

July 17, 2017

Police in the southwestern German town of Esslingen say they are searching for a teenager who reportedly entered a school with a gun. Officers say the suspect fled the premises on a motorbike.

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Police officer stands in front of patrol car
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Friebe

Students at the Friedrich-Ebert School in Esslingen raised the alarm on Monday after spotting a man with a firearm inside the building, according to police.

Spokesman Björn Reusch said the suspect did not fire the weapon and no one was hurt during the incident.

Authorities described him as "male, aged 17-19, 170-180cm (67-71 inches) tall, bearded, darker skin, (wearing) a blue T-shirt & light shorts."

He reportedly left of his own accord, fleeing on a motorbike.

The technical and vocational school was put under security lockdown for several hours. The high-school-aged students were ordered to stay in their classrooms while the school was searched as a precaution. Other nearby schools and kindergartens were also barricaded, but police eventually gave the all-clear for students to go home after a search of the area came up empty.

Read: On Erfurt anniversary, school psychologist calls for increased counselling

Authorities made an arrest earlier on Monday, but released him a short time later, saying they had the wrong person.

Local and federal police have blocked some of the streets in Esslingen and deployed helicopters to help search for the suspect. Police also used Twitter to appeal to the public to keep photos off social media until their operation had ended.

 

 Read: Hells Angels member charged in Frankfurt gangland shooting

Map of Germany

A deadly moment in the garden

The school scare and subsequent search came after police arrested a 52-year-old man on Saturday evening for the fatal shooting of his wife and his daughter's boyfriend in the nearby town of Nürtingen. After departing the daughter's apartment following an argument, the suspect reportedly returned to the home, where he drew a pistol and proceeding to shoot first the boyfriend, who had placed himself in the man's way, and then the wife while all were in the garden.

German media reported the likely cause as "long-term family problems."

Nürtingen and Esslingen both lie in the same adminsitrative district.
Read: At least one killed after shooting reported in Düren, western Germany

cmb/rc (dpa, AFP)