German Gunman 'Totally Normal Teen'

Witnesses describe student's rampage

(NEWSER) - Tim Kretschmer was calm and silent as he gunned down his former classmates today in southern Germany, witnesses tell the Telegraph. Kretschmer, 17, moved between classrooms dispatching his victims—mainly girls—with a weapon he’d brought from home. The only words survivors heard him say were “Aren’t you all dead yet?” after he returned to a classroom for the third time. More»

(NEWSER) - German police are still seeking some twisted motive for a suicidal teen gunman who shot dead 14 people at his former high school, but he clearly appears to have targeted girls, reports the Telegraph. Tim Kretschmer, 17, killed nine former schoolmates, eight of them girls, as well as three female teachers at the school near Stuttgart. "He wasn't shooting wildly or randomly when he entered the classrooms. He primarily shot to the head," said a local official. More»

Revelation of child from previous relationship stressed the Pardo's marriage

(NEWSER) - Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, who police say killed nine others in a Christmas Eve rampage in California, kept a child from a previous relationship secret from his ex-wife, the Los Angeles Times reports. Pardo did not support his physically handicapped 9-year-old son financially, but claimed him as a dependent for 7 years on his taxes. More»

'I just wanted to ask him why he did it,' says official

(NEWSER) - An Afghan investigative chief is frustrated he was not allowed to question the US serviceman charged in the shooting rampage that left 17 Afghan men, women, and children dead. General Sher Mohammed Karimi said he was never allowed to speak to Staff Sergeant Robert Bales before he was whisked off to the US for trial there, reports CBS . "This is all I wanted, to be able to just ask him who you are, why you did it, and what were the weapons that you used, what was the reason for killing children and women?" Karimi noted. He said US military officials explained that Americans accused of a crime are allowed to have a lawyer and have the option of not talking to anyone else. That explanation "is not convincing to my people," said Karimi. More»

Suspected shooter TJ Lane 'distraught, remorseful,' says lawyer

(NEWSER) - A second student has been declared brain dead after being shot yesterday at Ohio's Chardon High School , the Wall Street Journal reports. Russell King Jr., 17, had recently started dating the suspected shooter's ex-girlfriend . The first victim, 16-year-old Daniel Parmertor, died yesterday, and three others were wounded when 17-year-old TJ Lane allegedly began shooting in the cafeteria—"directly aiming" at a table where four boys sat, from "two feet away," one witness says. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Lane allegedly walked up to the group and shot at least three of the victims in the backs of their heads. More»