German cops shutter school after net massacre tip-off

Authorities on alert for anniversary killings

By Chris Williams • Get more from this author

Posted in Law, 21st November 2007 11:34 GMT

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A German secondary school was closed by police yesterday after internet investigators discovered it was being targeted for a Columbine-style killing spree.

Finnish authorities made the discovery in a chatroom and tipped off their German counterparts in Kaarst, near Düsseldorf.

They were following up the killing of eight people by an 18-year-old earlier this month in Finland. The gunman was active online and posted threats on his blog and YouTube.

German police have not ruled out a link between yesterday's suspected plot and the Finland school massacre, reports say. A US teenager who was planning an attack on a school near Philadelphia had chatted online with Pekka-Eric Auvinen, the Finnish shooter.

Yesterday was also the first anniversary of a shooting rampage by a former pupil at Emsdetten in Germany who injured dozens before turning his weapon on himself.

According to reports, another anniversary copycat attack was foiled in Cologne on Friday when police found two pupils had stockpiled weaponry. One of the suspects later committed suicide by throwing himself under a tram. ®

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