Ansbach assault
September 21, 2009
According to Senior Public Prosecutor Gudrun Lehnberger, Georg R. had planned to kill as many students and teachers as possible and burn down the school building. Last week, the 18-year-old entered his high school armed with firebombs, knives, and an axe. Ten people were injured in his assault and the attacker was seriously wounded after being shot by police.
The new information was found in a series of letters that totalled 80 pages found on the attacker's computer. They were addressed to a possibly fictional woman. Details of the plan matched the events that actually took place, leading police to conclude that the letters were in fact written by the suspect. the also shed some light on the reasons for the rampage.
"He described his motivation as being his hatred of humanity, in general, and the institution of school, in particular," prosecutor Lehnberger told a news conference.
She added that his hatred of school was particularly evident, based on a t-shirt he had specially ordered and wore on the day of the attack. The shirt read, in English, 'Made in School,' implying that the assailant was "a product of school," said Lehnberger.
Attack planned for months
Information conrtained in the letters indicates the student had been planning his attack since April.
A recurring topic in the suspect's writings was an incident from the sixth grade, when he was apparently beaten on a school bus and no one came to his aid. He mentioned several times that his parents were not to blame for what he had been planning and the prosecutor revealed that the attacker had expected to be killed by police at the school.
Police shot the teenager in the leg after he refused to lower a knife and threatened officers inside the school during the attack. the suspect was flown by helicopter to a hospital and placed in a medically-induced coma.
No arrest warrant has been issued, at this point, because the student's condition is still too critical. However, he has been assigned a public defender and the prosecutor's office plans to file charges on 10 counts of attempted murder.
mz/dpa/AP/Reuters
Editor: Rick Demarest