German town of Winnenden marks 1st anniversary of school shooting spree
By APThursday, March 11, 2010
German town marks school shooting anniversary
WINNENDEN, Germany — The German town of Winnenden is marking the first anniversary of a school shooting spree in which a teenager killed 15 people.
Church bells pealed in the southwestern town at 9:33 a.m. (0833 GMT) Thursday — the time a year ago that 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer embarked on the shootings at his former high school.
About 1,000 people gathered in snow outside the Albertville school.
President Horst Koehler said more could be done to ensure schools are protected and prevent access to guns. But he said: “We have to admit, as hard as it is, that there are no definitive answers, no final security in the face of such acts of violence.”
Kretschmer killed nine students and three teachers at the school before fatally shooting three others elsewhere then killing himself.
