Courtroom Shooting Ends in Death

PASSAU, Germany, April 7, 2009— -- One person died and several others suffered severe injures in a shooting rampage today at the local courthouse in Landshut, Germany, where a gunman ran amok before shooting himself to death, officials said.

The 60-year-old gunman, whom police have yet to name publicly, had been sitting in one of the courtrooms when he suddenly got up, pulled a gun and began the alleged shooting spree, according to authorities.

The man, who's from the nearby town of Dingolfing, allegedly killed a woman, said to be his sister-in-law, and injured several people, among them his sister-in-law's lawyer, the local prosecutor said.

The prosecutor told reporters at a news conference today that the man and his sister-in-law were involved in a legal battle about inheritance issues to be handled today at the court, which is in a small town 45 miles northeast of Munich.

Police arrived at the courthouse minutes after they received the first emergency calls shortly after 10 a.m. local time.

The building was evacuated immediately and the area was cordoned off.

Minutes after the shooting began, two blood-stained people were seen coming out of the building. They were rushed to the local hospital.

Police spokesman Leonhard Mayer told reporters in Landshut there was no warning ahead of the shooting. "It came out of the blue sky," he said.

Officials have not identified a motive for the shooting and law enforcement officials are at the crime scene investigating the incident.

Today's shooting comes about one month after a 17-year-old student killed nine students and three teachers at his former high school in the small town of Winnenden, in southwestern Germany, before fatally shooting three others.

He then killed himself during an exchange of gunfire with police.

That tragic school shooting left the entire country in shock and prompted many people to call for stricter gun control laws.

The parents and relatives of the victims from Winnenden have published an open letter in the local newspaper, calling for politicians to act swiftly to re-evaluate new regulations for gun control, but not much has happened since.

Will This Incident Change German Gun Law?

Germany's Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble told German TV, ARD, it was still too early to draw any legislative conclusions from the school shooting. "We already have one of the strictest weapons laws in the world," he told reporters in Berlin. "We now have to check whether rules were adhered to in this case."

Germany's gun control law is considered among the most onerous of any country in the world, and any attempts to re-evaluate and possibly re-introduce stricter gun-control laws would face a steep climb.

Legislation passed in April 2008 raised the legal age to obtain a gun license to 21 from from. And applicants younger than 25 must complete additional medical and psychological tests.

People wanting to buy a hunting gun must undergo background checks and those wanting a sports gun must be a member of a registered club and obtain a license from the police.

Gun collectors also need a permit and anyone deemed aggressive, unreliable or with a criminal conviction cannot legally own a gun in Germany.

Those regulations, designed to stop the spread of violent crime, were implemented after some of the most tragic shooting incidents that Germany has seen in recent years.

In 2002, a disgruntled former student shot 17 people, including himself, in the city of Erfurt. And, in 2006, an 18-year-old student injured 37 people before he killed himself.