Heidelberg University attacker was an 18-year-old German student

The young man who broke into a classroom at the University of Heidelberg (southwest of Germany) was an 18-year-old German student, the police reported, after the attack in which a woman died and three other people were injured, while the aggressor committed suicide.

The attacker was a citizen of the neighboring city of Mannheim and had sent a message on whatsapp before his act talking about the need to “punish people”, reported sources of the investigation, who are still trying to verify the veracity of that message.

He was a college student. He carried a backpack with several weapons and fled after having opened fire at will inside the classroom and during a class. He was found dead shortly afterward in the campus Botanical Garden.

The fatal victim, a 23-year-old woman, died shortly after the attack. Two other women and a man were injured.

At the moment there is no indication of a political or religious background, said the head of the Heidelberg Public Prosecutor’s Office, Andras Herrgen.

The perpetrator of the attack had no criminal record and neither he nor his family had a weapons permit, according to the prosecutor, who considered it “premature” to make any assumptions about his alleged motives.

The police received a first alert from the University around 11:30 GMT, when the attacker broke into a classroom where a class was being taught and started shooting.

After deploying a strong device and securing the area, he proceeded to cordon off the entire university campus where the attack occurred, including the university clinic, the Faculty of Sciences and the Botanical Garden.

Shortly afterwards it was found that the aggressor acted alone and by mid-afternoon traffic was restored to the university campus, which had been cut off in a wide radius up to the gates of the old town of Heidelberg.

The police urged the population not to approach the place while the situation was clarified and also not to spread speculation on the networks.