German school marks anniversary of gun rampage
Winnenden, Germany (dpa) - One year on from a school gun rampage in which 16 people died, German President Horst Koehler called Thursday for greater restrictions on access to weapons and said the media inspired such killings.
"A lot can still be done - more than so far - to ensure that vulnerable people can′t access firearms and to better protect schools and such places from attacks," Koehler told a memorial gathering at the Winnenden school.
Mourners formed a human chain around the Albertville secondary school and church bells rang at 9:33 am (0833 GMT), the time when former pupil Tim Kretschmer began his attack last year, killing 15 people before turning the gun on himself.
"This day represents the fact that nothing is as it was before," Koehler told pupils, teachers and bereaved family members. "The family of the perpetrator also lost a child. For them too, a world has collapsed," the president reminded the 900 mourners, as they huddled under umbrellas in the softly falling snow.
While it was impossible to safeguard entirely against such attacks, Koehler said there were lessons to be learnt.
Events in Winnenden have already led to tighter gun ownership laws, after it emerged that Kretschmer, then aged 17, had carried out the attack with a gun he had found in his parents′ bedroom.
Kretschmer′s father, 51, is due to face trial later this year for involuntary manslaughter, as the amateur marksman allegedly did not take due care in safeguarding his gun and munition.
Koehler called for stronger media regulation preventing the detailed coverage of such attacks, as it had been proven that media reports of gun rampages gave an incentive for potential imitators.
"Intensive media coverage which places the perpetrator in the spotlight can prompt the next attack," Koehler said.
The most emotive part of the remembrance service was an address by pupils at the school, who read out the names of the 15 victims and laid a plaque and a rose for each one.
Dressed in brightly coloured jumpers, bearing the motto, "I am living my dream," the pupils spoke of the need to carry on with their lives.
"March 11 has clearly become a part of our lives. But we don′t want it to dominate our life," one pupil said. At the end of the service, which was interspersed with musical performances including a school orchestra, mourners were invited to lay stones inscribed with personal messages, forming a "path to the future."
"It will be a long path for our school," said the principal, Astrid Hahn. "It will sometimes be crooked. It will be bumpy. It will be difficult."
Security was high during the memorial events. Several hundred policemen patrolled the area, after cordoning off the school itself, where no classes have been held since last year′s attack.
On March 11, 2009, nine pupils and three teachers were killed before Kretschmer fled the school, shooting three other people. When the police caught up with him in a neighbouring town, he turned the gun on himself. dpa hm ms