On 19 September 2010 in the small town of

Lörrach Lörrach () is a town in southwest Germany, in the valley of the Wiese, close to the French and the Swiss borders. It is the capital of the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg. It is the home of a number of large employers, including the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, near the Swiss border, Sabine Radmacher, a 41-year-old woman, killed her five-year-old son and the boy's father, her ex-partner. She then crossed the street to St. Elisabethen Hospital, where she shot and stabbed one nurse, killing him, and also injuring eighteen others, including a police officer. Soon after, the woman was fatally shot by special police units.

Background

In March 2009, a similar gun rampage had occurred in nearby

Winnenden Winnenden ( Swabian: ''Wẽnnede'') is a small town in the Rems-Murr district of the Stuttgart Region in Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany. It lies in a wine-growing area approx. northeast of Stuttgart and has a population of fewer than 28, ...

, when teenage gunman Tim Kretschmer killed twelve people at his former school before killing three civilians and then committing suicide in

Wendlingen Wendlingen is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated on the Neckar and Lauter rivers, 27 km southeast of Stuttgart. The town grew in size, officially, on 1 April 1940, when three separ ...

. The incident triggered off a debate in Germany on tougher

gun ownership Gun ownership is the status of owning a gun, either legal or illegal. In 2018, Small Arms Survey reported that there are over one billion small arms distributed globally, of which 857 million (about 85 percent) are in civilian hands.Lörrach Lörrach () is a town in southwest Germany, in the valley of the Wiese, close to the French and the Swiss borders. It is the capital of the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg. It is the home of a number of large employers, including the ...

, a town close to the Swiss and French borders. Sabine Radmacher first smothered her five-year-old son, then shot and stabbed the boy's father, her ex-partner. She then set fire to the flat, eventually causing an explosion. She then crossed the street to the St. Elisabethen Hospital and entered the Gynaecology Ward, where she stabbed and shot a nurse, killing him instantly. Eighteen people, including a police officer who happened to be at the hospital, were also shot and wounded. When the emergency services arrived fifteen minutes later, police exchanged fire with the shooter and fatally shot her. It was revealed by the police that the woman, identified as 41-year-old Sabine Radmacher, was believed to have been involved in an incident earlier on the same day in a nearby building. According to reports, she was seen leaving a burning apartment block opposite the hospital, with a gun in her hand, where two people had lost their lives in an explosion. The police announced that a child was among the two who had been killed. Radmacher was also described as a sporting markswoman and had used a

.22 calibre .22 caliber, or 5.6 mm caliber, refers to a common firearms bore diameter of 0.22 inch (5.6 mm). Cartridges in this caliber include the very widely used .22 Long Rifle and .223 Remington / 5.56×45mm NATO. .22 inch is also a popular ...

Walther GSP The Walther GSP, ''Gebrauchs Sportpistole'' (Sport Pistol for Standard Use), is a single-action, precision targetshooting pistol made in Germany by Walther Sportwaffen. It has the same technical base as the Walther OSP and thus is almost identic ...

during the rampage.

References

External links

St. Elizabeth's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorrach hospital shooting, 2010 2010 mass shootings in Europe 2010 murders in Germany 2010s in Baden-Württemberg Arson in Germany Attacks on buildings and structures in Germany Hospital shootings Deaths by firearm in Germany Filicides in Germany Mass shootings in Germany Murder in Baden-Württemberg September 2010 crimes September 2010 events in Germany Spree shootings in Germany Attacks on hospitals in Europe