DFrom the perspective of Christian Lüdke, a child and adolescent psychotherapist in Cologne, the shooting at the Wuppertal high school is an example of the increase in violent crimes among teenagers or young people of the same age. While police crime statistics do not show a drastic increase in the total number of such incidents, brutality and the use of knives and other weapons are increasing, Lüdke said Friday on WDR 5's “Morgenecho.”

Often there are very early signs in the family when the child is withdrawing. “Firstly, that children are either very quiet, quiet, have few social contacts or are very aggressive relatively early, sometimes glorifying violence,” the trauma therapist described behavioral problems. Unfortunately, this is often not responded to.

In fact, the parents' home is a big risk factor in the development of violent children, explained Lüdke, who also worked as a psychological trainer in the special units of the North Rhine-Westphalian police. “Such young people often have parents who tolerate violence themselves or are very aggressive themselves.”

In these families, there is often a lack of a strong emotional bond, so children are often unable to develop compassion for others. “As a result, they fall into a kind of emotional general anesthesia,” the expert said. “They feel powerless and by using violence they turn the feeling of powerlessness into a short-term experience of omnipotence. At worst, according to the motto: I am the master of life and death.”

A high school in Wuppertal activated a shooting alert Thursday morning after a 17-year-old allegedly stabbed fellow students with multiple weapons. Police initially put the number of injured at four, plus the suspected attacker. He and two students had to be treated in the intensive care unit. More detailed information about the investigation will be provided by the police and the prosecutor's office on Friday afternoon.

Just a few days ago, two young basketball players from Ukraine were stabbed in Oberhausen's main train station. In this case, four 14-15-year-old youths are urgent suspects and are in custody.