School massacre probe police doubt internet postings

The psychological profile of a teenager who went on a shooting spree at his former school and killed 15 people began to take shape, as German investigators described a withdrawn young man from an intact family who broke off psychiatric treatment for depression.

But investigators faced a setback as they struggled to authenticate a chat room posting that purportedly warned of a bloody rampage hours before 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer wreaked havoc on the quiet town of Winnenden near Stuttgart, southwest Germany.

Kretschmer returned to his former high school on Wednesday to kill nine students and three teachers before fleeing on foot and by car, killing three more people, and eventually turning a 9mm Beretta pistol on himself after a shootout with police.

A joint statement released late yesterday by regional police and Stuttgart prosecutors said that, “in the course of the afternoon, doubts arose about the veracity of the internet chat”.

Police spokesman Klaus Hinderer said a search of Kretschmer’s computer had shown no trace of his having made the chat room posting.

A message posted yesterday to the site – krautchan.net – said, “No killing spree was announced here.” Prosecutors said they were trying to reach the US-based provider of the site.

Across Germany, government buildings lowered their flags to half staff, while schools held moments of silence for the victims. Germany’s national soccer league, the Bundesliga, said players would wear black armbands in upcoming games.

In Winnenden, hundreds of people filed into a church in a drizzle after dark for a prayer service. A crowd of many more watched on a large video screen outside as a message of condolence from Pope Benedict XVI, a fellow German, was read aloud.

Throughout the day, students and residents paid homage to the dead outside the school, where they lit candles and laid tulips, roses, handwritten notes and stuffed animals in a memorial.

Fourteen-year-old Kristin Puengel said a friend of hers was among the eight girls killed. Three female teachers and a boy were also shot in the school. Another three men were killed as Kretschmer fled police.

She said she only knew Kretschmer – who appeared in pictures shown on German television to be a dark-haired teen with glasses and short sideburns – by sight, but that he was not a friend.

“He was somewhat withdrawn, but I would never have thought (he would be capable) of anything like this,” Kristin said.