Teacher shot by student

A student in the Netherlands today walked into his school’s crowded cafeteria at lunch time and shot an economics teacher point-blank in the head, badly wounding him.

The teacher, shot once in the forehead, collapsed in a pool of blood, witnesses said, and was taken by helicopter to a hospital. He was tonight “fighting for his life”, the school said in a statement.

The 17-year-old boy fled the scene but turned himself in to police hours later, police spokesman Jan van der Braak said.

The teenager had a reputation for being a troublemaker, and was reportedly punished for misbehaviour a few days earlier. His name was not released.

His victim, 49-year-old Hans van Wieren, was also the deputy principal of Stevincollege, in The Hague.

No one else was hurt, but counsellors were summoned to talk to students following the incident.

The shooting came as a shock to many in the Netherlands, where gun crime is low.

Immediately after the shooting, the school children were rushed out of the building and police cordoned off surrounding streets to search for the shooter. Police dog teams were also brought in to join the search.

The school apparently has a history of violence. Neighbours and students said police make frequent visits to the site.

“Fights are normal here, but not like this,” said student Mohammed Ouledle.

The shooting immediately set off a national debate about violence against teachers and whether security measures are needed at schools.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said it was “unbelievable when you hear that something like this can happen in the Netherlands.”

“Conflicts can arise, but you can’t resolve them with weapons. And the fact that a teacher should be the victim of a discontented student – it’s not right. You can’t behave like this, you must not behave like this,” Balkenende said.

The country’s national teachers union called the shooting shocking and said “it shows that the violence in our society doesn’t exclude schools and education personnel.”

The Netherlands has stiff gun control laws, and violence involving firearms is uncommon.

The country’s first known school shooting was in 1999, when a 17-year-old youth wounded five people in the southern Dutch town of Veghel. He was sentenced to five years in prison.