Gunman issued e-warning

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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The suspect, whose name appears as Tim Kretschmer in police documents, told others in the chat room he planned to attack his school in Winnenden, said Baden-Wuerttemburg State Interior Minister Heribert Rech.

He said the suspect wrote: "You will hear from me tomorrow; remember the name of a place called Winnenden." Authorities were looking into whether to press charges against the gun-collecting father of the teenager, who neighbors described as a loner with a fondness for violent videos. In the first indication of a motive for the shooting, Rech said the teenager told others in the German-language chat room that: "Everyone laughs at me; nobody recognizes my potential," reported The Associated Press.

"I'm serious. ... I have a weapon here," Rech said the youth wrote. "Early morning I will go to my former school." The youth ended the chat saying, "No reports to the police now, don't worry, I'm just baiting you."

A Bavarian man told police about the chat after the school shooting in Winnenden took place, Rech said. He told authorities his 17-year-old son only told him about it after seeing the news reports and had not taken the threat seriously, replying to the message, "LOL" a short form for "laughing out loud."

Investigator Siegfried Mahler said authorities had learned that the suspect was treated for depression in 2008, with five visits to a psychiatrist between April and September at a local clinic. He was supposed to continue the treatment at another clinic, but did not show up. The bloodbath left Germany in a state of shock. Flags flew at half-mast across the country, and hundreds of candles were left outside the school in Winnenden. Thousands of people packed churches for special services and a vigil was held outside the school on what Chancellor Angela Merkel called "a day of mourning for all of Germany." "Our thoughts go out to the families and the friends. We are thinking of you and we are praying for you," Agence France-Presse quoted her as saying.

Scores of candles lit by mourners adorned the ground amid bunches of flowers and messages and questions such as, "Why?" A man carried a sign reading, "God: Where were you?"