Police secure a crime scene in Wuppertal on Thursday, February 22, 2024
Image: AP
After the attack at Wuppertal High School, investigators found the suspect's confessional letter, the contents of which indicated that “the seventeen-year-old had a mental illness.”
DThe young people injured in the attack on a high school student in Wuppertal are out of danger. The researchers announced this on Friday. A 17-year-old alleged perpetrator is said to have suddenly stabbed himself in the lounge of the Wilhelm-Dörpfeld Gymnasium in central Wuppertal on Thursday morning. He injured four classmates, two of them seriously. It is said that the young man then stabbed himself in the chest and seriously injured himself. Preliminary investigation results presented on Friday afternoon suggest that even worse was prevented thanks to the fearless intervention of the teacher and later the careful approach of the police.
As State Attorney Patrick Penders announced in a joint press conference with Chief of Police Operations Colin Rinderz, the students were initially among themselves on Thursday morning. Then a teacher noticed the loud scream and rushed to the spot. The student suspect then allowed the teacher to convince him to drop the murder weapon.
The teenager of German-Turkish origin, who performed well at school but reportedly suffered from mental problems for a long time, was sitting quietly during recess under the teacher's supervision when the first ambulance arrived. “But when he saw the emergency services, he lashed out again and attacked the emergency services and said he wanted to shoot the police,” Detective Director Rinderz said. Thanks to the very calm behavior of the police, the teenager was handcuffed without using weapons. At the school, investigators found the suspect's confession letter. Its contents suggest that “a seventeen-year-old has a mental illness,” State's Attorney Penders said. The young person is “immediately assessed”.
After the suspect was arrested, police completely evacuated the gymnasium to search the building for possible additional dangerous items or other people. A police helicopter temporarily hovered over the school. In the meantime, the students were cared for in the rooms of the savings bank next door. The suspect's apartment was also searched for evidence. On Friday, the State Prosecutor's Office requested an arrest warrant for the seventeen-year-old, who is being treated in the hospital, for attempted murder.