Teacher dies after being gunned down by pupil

A teacher in the Netherlands, shot at point-blank range by a pupil, has died from his injuries.

Yesterday’s shooting in The Hague came as a shock to many in the country, where gun violence is rare.

The pupil, a 17-year-old boy with a reputation for being a troublemaker, had reportedly been punished for misbehaviour a few days earlier. He fled the scene but gave himself up to police hours later, police spokesman Jan van der Braak said. The student’s name was not released.

His victim, economics teacher Hans van Wieren, 49, was also the deputy principal of Stevincollege, a school in the city.

A student who was in the cafeteria where the shooting took place at lunchtime, said she first mistook the gunshot for “fireworks”.

“I head people scream and thought it was a joke,” said the student, who would not give her name.

Students were sent out of the school building and police initially cordoned off surrounding streets to search for the gunman with dogs.

Students said the teacher, shot once in the forehead, collapsed in a pool of blood and was taken by helicopter to a hospital. Dutch state news agency NOS reported his death around 10.30pm local time.

No one else was hurt, but counsellors were summoned to talk to upset students after the shooting.

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

“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 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.