Baden-Württemberg
15-year-old student in court on suspicion of murder
Candles and flowers lie in front of the entrance to the Waldbachschule in Offenburg, where a 15-year-old shot a student in November 2023
© Philipp von Ditfurth / DPA
Shots trigger fear and horror in a school in Offenburg on a November day. A student dies. Now the trial against the alleged attacker begins.
A good five months after the fatal shooting at a school, the suspected perpetrator, a 15-year-old, will be in Baden on Thursday Offenburg in court. The teenager, who is in custody, is charged with murder and attempted murder. According to the investigation, he is said to have shot a classmate of the same age with a pistol at his school in Offenburg on November 9th last year. The victim died in hospital. A motive for the violent act had not yet become clear.
The case is being heard by a youth court behind closed doors, as the local regional court reported. A verdict is therefore not expected until July at the earliest. The violent death of a student also triggered nationwide sadness and horror.
Offenburg’s Waldbach School regularly remembers the killed student
The memory of the victim is present every day at the Waldbach School, as the Freiburg regional council announced on behalf of the educational institution. The school community regularly remembers the student who was killed. The start of the process is keeping the school busy – students are being talked to about feelings, memories and fears, the regional council reported. Since the violent act, students and teachers have been receiving psychological support.
According to investigations, the suspect, a German, had 41 rounds of ammunition with him. The weapon used in the crime came from the parents’ household. In addition, the teenager is said to have tried to set off an incendiary device in the classroom and then in the stairwell of the special needs school, but was unsuccessful, the public prosecutor said.
A father who was at school during the violence held the suspected shooter. Sabah Tamer Ayoub saved people and prevented an even worse bloodbath, as Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) said. Ayoub received the state rescue medal for his efforts.
If convicted, the 15-year-old could face a youth sentence of between six months and ten years, according to the public prosecutor’s office. The investigations against the parents of the alleged perpetrator have not yet been completed. It is about suspicion of negligent homicide and alleged violations of the weapons law, as the public prosecutor announced.