Ansbach school attack
{{Short description|2009 attack in Bavaria, Germany}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Ansbach school attack
| image =
| caption =
| coordinates = {{Coord|49|18|4|N|10|34|11|E|region:DE_type:event|display=inline,title}}
| target = Gymnasium Carolinum
| date = {{Start date|2009|09|17|df=y}}
| timezone = UTC+1
| type =
| fatalities = 0
| injuries = 16 (including the perpetrator){{Cite news|title=Ansbach school attacker gets nine years|date=29 April 2010|agency=DPA|newspaper=The Local|url=http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100429-26883.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430224151/http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100429-26883.html|archive-date=30 April 2010|url-status=live|access-date=20 July 2013}}
| weapons = Molotov cocktails, axe, knives
}}
The Ansbach school attack occurred on 17 September 2009 at the Gymnasium Carolinum, a secondary school in Ansbach, a town of some 40,000 inhabitants in Bavaria, Germany. The attacker was armed with Molotov cocktails and an axe.{{Cite news|title=Auftakt im Ansbacher Amoklauf-Prozess |url=http://www.merkur-online.de/aktuelles/bayern/auftakt-ansbacher-amoklauf-prozess-meta-727025.html |newspaper=Münchner Merkur |date=22 April 2010 |access-date=20 July 2013 |agency=dpa |language=de |trans-title=Beginning of the Ansbach attack trial |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720165859/http://www.merkur-online.de/aktuelles/bayern/auftakt-ansbacher-amoklauf-prozess-meta-727025.html |archive-date=20 July 2013 |url-status=live }} Fifteen people were injured in the attack, two of them severely. The attacker was also injured. Police arrived on the scene shortly after the attack began, shot the attacker, and took him into custody.
Attack details
The attacker entered the school building around 08:30 (UTC+1), armed with an axe, two knives and three Molotov cocktails.{{Cite news|title=Ansbach – die verhinderte Katastrophe|first=Christoph|last=Wenzel|newspaper=Berliner Morgenpost|url=http://www.morgenpost.de/printarchiv/panorama/article1172295/Ansbach-die-verhinderte-Katastrophe.html|access-date=20 July 2013|language=de|trans-title=Ansbach – the averted catastrophe|date=18 September 2009}} He hurled one of the incendiary devices into an eleventh-grade classroom, attacked a fleeing student with the axe, then threw another Molotov cocktail into a ninth-grade classroom across the hall.{{Cite news|title=Ansbach: Amoklauf am Gymnasium Carolinum|date=17 September 2009|first1=Hauke|last1=Höpcke|first2=Gudrun|last2=Bayer|newspaper=Nürnberger Nachrichten|url=http://www.nn-online.de/artikel.asp?art=1088117&kat=120|access-date=20 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922214535/http://www.nn-online.de/artikel.asp?art=1088117&kat=120|archive-date=22 September 2009|language=de|trans-title=Ansbach: Attack on the Gymnasium Carolinum|url-status=dead}} The student who had been attacked with an axe sustained a life-threatening concussion, another student incurred severe burns, and eleven other students as well as two teachers were lightly injured. At 08:35, an 18-year-old student notified the police, who arrived a short time later. The 18-year-old, who had been active for several years in the volunteer fire department, then began working to extinguish the fire. At this point, the attacker had locked himself in a bathroom stall. As he left the stall, he threatened the police officers with a knife. The police opened fire at 08:43, severely injuring the attacker with three shots to his arm, abdomen, and chest.{{Cite news|newspaper=Badische Zeitung|agency=epd/dpa|access-date=20 July 2013|url=http://www.badische-zeitung.de/panorama/vom-hass-getrieben--19850748.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926175610/http://www.badische-zeitung.de/panorama/vom-hass-getrieben--19850748.html|archive-date=26 September 2009|title=Vom Hass getrieben|trans-title=Driven by hate|language=de|date=22 September 2009|url-status=live}}
Background
The attacker, whom police later identified as Georg R., was 18 years old at the time of the attack and was himself a student at Carolinum. He had been undergoing psychotherapy for some time prior.{{Cite news|newspaper=Die Welt|url=https://www.welt.de/News/article4566859/Der-Amoklaeufer-von-Ansbach-und-die-Apocalypse-Today.html|access-date=20 July 2013|archive-date=12 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112110637/http://www.welt.de/news/article4566859/Der-Amoklaeufer-von-Ansbach-und-die-Apocalypse-Today.html|language=de|title=Der Amokläufer von Ansbach und die 'Apocalypse Today'|trans-title=The Ansbach attacker and the "Apocalypse Today"|date=19 September 2009|first=Petr|last=Jerabek|url-status=live}} He had been planning the attack intensively for months and had prepared a will.{{Cite news|title=Amokläufer von Ansbach: Sein Motiv war purer Hass|trans-title=Ansbach attacker: His motive was pure hate|access-date=20 July 2013|date=21 September 2009|url=http://www.stern.de/panorama/amoklaeufer-von-ansbach-sein-motiv-war-purer-hass-1510177.html|newspaper=Stern|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522040454/http://www.stern.de/panorama/amoklaeufer-von-ansbach-sein-motiv-war-purer-hass-1510177.html|archive-date=22 May 2013|language=de|agency=DPA/AFP/AP|url-status=live}} He had a date picked for the attack since the beginning of June 2009,{{Cite news|newspaper=Süddeutsche Zeitung|title=Hass auf die Menschheit|trans-title=Hatred for humanity|date=17 May 2010|access-date=20 July 2013|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/ansbach-motive-des-amoklaeufers-hass-auf-die-menschheit-1.50954|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228013143/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/ansbach-motive-des-amoklaeufers-hass-auf-die-menschheit-1.50954|archive-date=28 February 2011|first1=Uwe|last1=Ritzer|first2=Ulrike|last2=Heidenreich|language=de|url-status=live}} but due to last-minute technical difficulties in preparing the Molotov cocktails he postponed the attack by a day.{{Cite news|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=17 April 2010|url=http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/verfahren-vor-jugendkammer-anklaeger-fordern-oeffentlichen-prozess-gegen-amoklaeufer-von-ansbach-a-689571.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703174242/http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/verfahren-vor-jugendkammer-anklaeger-fordern-oeffentlichen-prozess-gegen-amoklaeufer-von-ansbach-a-689571.html|archive-date=3 July 2013|access-date=20 July 2013|title=Verfahren vor Jugendkammer: Ankläger fordern öffentlichen Prozess gegen Amokläufer von Ansbach|language=de|trans-title=Proceeding before juvenile court: Prosecutors support public trial against Ansbach attacker|agency=phw/ddp|url-status=live}}
The police investigation later revealed that the attacker had felt unfairly treated, excluded, and unrespected; that he had been worried about passing the Abitur (university entrance exam); and that he had wished he had a girlfriend.{{Cite news|url=http://www.focus.de/panorama/welt/ansbach-amoklaeufer-voller-hass-auf-schule_aid_437759.html|access-date=20 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102203615/http://www.focus.de/panorama/welt/ansbach-amoklaeufer-voller-hass-auf-schule_aid_437759.html|archive-date=2 November 2012|date=21 September 2009|title=Ansbach: Amokläufer voller Hass auf Schule|trans-title=Ansbach: Attacker full of hate for school|agency=uq/dpa/AP|newspaper=Focus|language=de|url-status=live}} He did not want to live anymore and had planned to be killed in the attack, and he had wanted to kill as many students and teachers as possible at the same time.
No violent computer games, violent videos, or firearms were found at the attacker's home. While after previous attacks the public debate revolved mainly around changes to gun laws or laws for the protection of youth, the debate following this attack was confined to the problem of school bullying.
Aftermath
In reaction to the attack, the police union advocated the introduction of an early warning system for schools.{{Cite news|url=http://www.merkur-online.de/aktuelles/bayern/amoklauf-polizei-fordert-schul-fruehwarnsystem-470489.html |date=18 September 2009 |access-date=20 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720183652/http://www.merkur-online.de/aktuelles/bayern/amoklauf-polizei-fordert-schul-fruehwarnsystem-470489.html |archive-date=20 July 2013 |title=Amoklauf: Polizei fordert Schul-Frühwarnsystem |language=de |trans-title=Attack: Police support school early warning system |newspaper=Münchner Merkur |url-status=live }} Several state governments expressed a desire to increase the number of school psychologists.{{Cite news|url=http://www.presseportal.de/pm/30621/1478141/rheinische_post |access-date=20 July 2013 |language=de |archive-date=20 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720184038/http://www.presseportal.de/pm/30621/1478141/rheinische_post |title=Rheinische Post: Nach Ansbach: NRW-Ministerin will bis zu 1000 Schulpsychologen |trans-title=Rheinische Post: After Ansbach: NRW minister wants up to 1000 school psychologists |newspaper=news aktuell |date=18 September 2009 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news|url=http://www.rp-online.de/panorama/deutschland/fdp-will-mehr-sozialarbeiter-und-psychologen-1.2014183 |access-date=20 July 2013 |archive-date=20 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720184421/http://www.rp-online.de/panorama/deutschland/fdp-will-mehr-sozialarbeiter-und-psychologen-1.2014183 |newspaper=Rheinische Post |title=FDP will mehr Sozialarbeiter und Psychologen |language=de |trans-title=FDP wants more social workers and psychologists |date=20 September 2009 |agency=AP/jt |url-status=live }} The German Association of Cities and Towns, in view of the attack as well as the recent death of Dominik Brunner, came out in favor of an advisory council on youth violence, based on the model of the German Immigration Council, which works in cooperation with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.{{Cite news|newspaper=Die Welt |url=https://www.welt.de/welt_print/politik/article4616907/Kommunen-fordern-Buendnis-gegen-Jugendgewalt.html |access-date=20 July 2013 |archive-date=20 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720184833/http://www.welt.de/welt_print/politik/article4616907/Kommunen-fordern-Buendnis-gegen-Jugendgewalt.html |title=Kommunen fordern Bündnis gegen Jugendgewalt |trans-title=Municipalities support alliance against youth violence |date=25 September 2009 |language=de |first=Stefan |last=von Borstel |url-status=live }} This advisory council on youth violence would develop plans for initiatives such as using the Internet for antiviolence training and increasing security in public spaces. In addition, local authorities supported greater integration among education, judicial, and youth welfare departments, as well as a safety partnership between police, municipalities, schools, and sports associations.
The 18-year-old who had placed the emergency call was nominated by a classmate for the XY Prize for Civil Courage.{{Cite episode|series=Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst|series-link=Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst|date=4 August 2010}}
Trial
The Ansbach prosecutor's office charged the suspect, who was 19 years old at the time the trial began, with 47 counts of attempted murder, two counts of attempted manslaughter, 13 counts of grievous bodily harm, as well as attempted first-degree arson. The Ansbach District Court commenced the trial on 22 April 2010. After the charges were read, the trial was closed to the public until the pronouncement of the verdict. On 29 April 2010, the defendant was found guilty of all 47 counts of attempted murder, among other charges, and sentenced to nine years of juvenile detention.{{Cite news|url=http://www.focus.de/panorama/welt/urteil-ansbacher-amoklaeufer-kommt-in-psychiatrie_aid_503366.html|access-date=20 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102204115/http://www.focus.de/panorama/welt/urteil-ansbacher-amoklaeufer-kommt-in-psychiatrie_aid_503366.html|archive-date=2 November 2012|date=29 April 2010|title=Urteil: Ansbacher Amokläufer kommt in Psychiatrie|trans-title=Sentence: Ansbach attacker enters psychiatric care|agency=ott/apn/dpa/ddp
|newspaper=Focus|language=de|url-status=live}} The juvenile-crime chamber of the Ansbach District Court further ordered his indefinite commitment to a psychiatric clinic.