Germany mourns school shootings

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Flags are being flown at half mast across Germany, as a mark of respect to the 15 people who were killed by a teenage gunman on Wednesday.

Tim Kretschmer opened fire on pupils and teachers at his former school in Winnenden, south-west Germany, before later shooting himself dead.

Hundreds of people took part in emotional church services in the town on Wednesday to remember the victims.

Chancellor Angela Merkel called the incident "incomprehensible".

She said the whole nation was in mourning.

Meanwhile, investigators are continuing their inquiries to see what motive the gunman may have had for the killings.

Officials say it currently seems the 17-year-old did not hold a grudge against the school. <a name="goback"></a> <a class="bodl" href="#map"> See where the school shooting took place</a>

The teenager entered the Albertville secondary school, north of Stuttgart, dressed in black combat gear.

Eight girls and one boy were killed after he opened fire, along with three teachers, all of them women. Seven other children suffered minor injuries.

Terrified pupils leapt from the school windows to escape. TIM KRETSCHMER Left Albertville school last year after passing exams (pictured above in 2004)Officials said he was an ordinary pupil who had received good reports from schoolGerman media reported he had begun an apprenticeshipLived in the village of LeutenbachA keen table-tennis player, who aspired to become professional <a class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7937554.stm">How school shooting unfolded</a><a class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7938402.stm">Attack raises gun-law questions</a><a class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/7938484.stm">Boy was 'arrogant, not aggressive'</a>

A student called Celina told the BBC how the gunman had come into her classroom and "just shot everywhere".

"I threw myself on the floor and took my friends with me, and then I went to a corner and put a table in front of me, and he came again a second time and shot again," she said.

"We were in panic and in shock."

Another pupil, Eileen Toraman, said one of her friends had been killed while another had broken her leg jumping from a third-floor window.

"I don't understand why this happened. I have no idea what is supposed to happen now."

As he fled the school, the gunman killed a passer-by.

He hijacked a car, taking its driver hostage, before stopping in the town of Wendlingen, about 40km (25 miles) away from the school.

He then shot and killed two men at a car showroom.

A fire fight with police followed and the teenager was hit in the leg.

He fled and turned the weapon on himself.

Wednesday's attack was the most deadly school-shooting in Germany since 2002, when a former school pupil in the eastern city of Erfurt killed 14 teachers, two pupils and a police officer.

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