Winnenden School Shooting - Origin of The Gun, Indictment of The Father

Origin of The Gun, Indictment of The Father

Police raided the Kretschmer family house at about 11:00 a.m. on the day of the shooting. Tim Kretschmer's father legally owned 15 guns as a member of a local marksmen club ("Schützenverein" in German). One 9 mm Beretta handgun was found missing, along with several hundred rounds of ammunition. Fourteen of the guns were kept in a gun safe, while the Beretta had been kept unsecured in the bedroom.

Five days after the event, prosecutors initiated preliminary proceedings against the father for negligent homicide, since the gun had not been properly locked away as required by law. The police confiscated the 14 remaining guns. The father announced that he would voluntarily relinquish his gun ownership authorization.

In November 2009, the Public Prosecutor's Department in Stuttgart announced that the father had been indicted on charges of negligent homicide, bodily injury caused by negligence, and violation of the weapons law. On 10 February 2011, the state court in Stuttgart found the father guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 15 cases, bodily harm caused by negligence and the negligent abandonment of a weapon. The father received a suspended sentence of one year and nine months, and appealed the verdict.

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