Teenager kills student at Albanian high school, then commits suicide

2 dead in Albanian school shooting

TIRANA, Albania — An apparently jealous teenager stormed into an Albanian high school class room Tuesday, fatally shooting a young woman he had met on Facebook and then committing suicide, police and media said.

Police said 19-year-old Endrit Llambaj entered the classroom in the southern town of Elbasan with a handgun and ordered all the students out except 18-year-old Gerta Baja. Three shots were then fired, and Baja was found dead at her desk.

The gunman ran away before fatally shooting himself a few hundred yards (meters) away when he realized police were chasing him.

Elbasan police spokeswoman Valbona Begu said Llambaj was probably motivated by jealousy.

Eight bullets and three grams of cannabis were found in Llambaj’s trouser pockets, the spokeswoman added.

Police said they had arrested a school guard for letting him in, on charges of neglecting his duty.

The two students had met on Facebook, according to private Klan television station.

Education Minister Myqerem Tafaj said social workers will provide students with counseling.

Elbasan is 55 kilometers (35 miles) south of Tirana, Albania’s capital.

Albania has recently seen increasing violence in its elementary and high schools, while police have increased patrols near schools to deter drug dealers.

On Monday, a young student stabbed and seriously injured a schoolmate with a knife following a quarrel at an elementary school in Tirana.

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