A nation mourns after school bloodbath

Germany was in mourning Thursday after a teenage gunman ran amok at a school and the local area, killing at least 15 people and finally himself in a shootout with police. Seventeen-year-old Tim Kretschmer Wednesday burst into his former secondary school in Winnenden, a picturesque town in southern Germany, and opened fire, leaving nine pupils aged between 15 and 16 and three teachers dead.Another three bystanders also died during a massive manhunt involving hundreds of armed police commandos and snipers in black body armour, assisted by helicopters and dogs. Less than three hours after the killing spree began, the gunman eventually turned his weapon on himself after being injured in a fire-fight with police, bringing the death toll to 16. A visibly shaken Angela Merkel, Germany's Chancellor, described the crime as "incomprehensible". "It is a day of mourning for the whole of Germany. Our thoughts go out to the families and the friends. We are thinking of you and we are praying for you," she added. Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble ordered flags across Germany to be flown at half mast Thursday as a mark of respect for the slain. Church services took place Wednesday in the town, which has a population around 27,000.

Recent school slayings worldwide

Sept 2008, Finland: Eleven people, including the gunman, die in a massacre at a training school at Kauhajoki.   April 2007, United States: A South Korean student kills 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus in Blackburg, VA.   Mar 2005, United States: A 16-year-old boy kills two people at his home in Minnesota, then goes to school where he kills seven other people, including his teacher and turns the weapon against himself.   Apr 2002, Germany: A 19-year-old student kills 16 people, including 12 teachers, at his high school in Erfurt (Thuringen.)   June 2001, Japan: A man kills eight children in a Tokyo school.   Apr 1999, United States: A 17 and a 19-year-old go on a rampage in at their Colombine highschool in Littleton, CO, and kill 12 students and one professor. They then both commit suicide.