German leaders on Friday expressed their disbelief and shock at a school shooting incident, in which 18 people were killed and six others wounded.
German President Johannes Rau said that "Germany is saddened by this unbelievable incident", which occurred at the Gutenberg Secondary School in Erfurt, capital of the Thueringen state, earlier in the day.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said that he was "stunned by this horrible crime", and "this event goes beyond all imagination."
The chancellor's office lowered the national flag half-mast to mourn nine teachers, 4 students and one policeman killed in the tragic event.
The incident started at around 11:00 a.m. local time, when a 19- year-old former schooler, armed with a pump-gun and a pistol, went into the school and started to shoot randomly.
The killer had been expelled by the school and apparently sought revenge.
When policemen arrived at the school after receiving an emergency call, they were met with a hail of bullets and one of them was also fatally wounded.
The killer then shot himself and was found dead in an empty classroom by special police searching the school building.
The school has 750 students and was at the time of incident full of students taking exams.
(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2002)
