Attacker wounds 9 students at German school


AP – Police officers and paramedics walk in front of Carolinum school in Ansbach, Germany Thursday Sept. 17, …
By BRIGITTE CASPARY, Associated Press Writer Brigitte Caspary, Associated Press Writer – 26 mins ago
ANSBACH, Germany – An 18-year-old student armed with an ax and Molotov cocktails wounded nine pupils at his high school in southern Germany on Thursday, then was shot and arrested by police, authorities said.
The teenager entered the Carolinum High School in the Bavarian town of Ansbach and threw two of the explosive devices, but they caused no major fires, fire service official Horst Settler said. Police could not confirm media reports that the attacker had lobbed Molotov cocktails into a classroom.
Udo Dreher, head of police officers at the scene, said they responded to a 8:35 a.m. (0635 GMT) call that an attacker had set off two Molotov cocktails at the high school. Upon arriving at the scene, police opened fire and wounded the attacker, who was then arrested, Dreher said.
All 700 students at the school were safely evacuated said Nuremberg police spokeswoman Elke Schoenwald.
Prosecutor Gudrun Lehnberger said the 18-year-old male student at the school is being held on suspicion of attempted murder. Earlier reports had said the attacker was 19.
Lehnberger said the initial investigation was concentrating on determining a motive for the attack, which came only three days after the new school year started in Bavaria.
Dreher said all the injured were eighth-graders and included two girls who were seriously hurt. None of their injuries were life-threatening, he said.
According to its Web site, Carolinum was founded in 1528, making it the second-oldest public high school in Bavaria. Today, the school offers curriculum based on the humanities and music for grades five through 12.
The incident was the second attack on a school in Germany this year.
In March, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer fatally shot 12 people at his former school in the southwestern town of Winnenden. He fled the building and killed three more people before turning the gun on himself.
That was the nation's second-worst school shooting after a 2002 shooting spree in Erfurt that left 17 dead, including the gunman.
After Kretschmer's attack in Winnenden, Germany moved to tighten checks on weapon owners.
(This version CORRECTS UPDATES with new police comment, corrects spelling of fire chief's name. TRIMS outdated material.)