[1][5] The shooting spree resulted in 16 deaths, including the suicide of the perpetrator, 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer, who had graduated from the school a year earlier.

[6][7][8] Eyewitness reports state that Kretschmer started on the first upstairs floor,[9] where he made a beeline for two top-floor classrooms and a chemistry laboratory.

[10] In the first classroom (Class 9C which was receiving a Spanish lesson), Kretschmer fatally shot five students in the head at close range without warning.

As Kretschmer left the room to reload his weapon, the teacher reportedly closed the door and locked it.

[14] The school headmaster broadcast a coded announcement ("Mrs Koma is coming", which is amok spelled backwards)[15] alerting the teachers of the situation; they locked classroom doors.

[16] After receiving an emergency call from a student at 09:33 local time,[8] three police officers reached the scene two minutes later and entered the school, interrupting the shooting spree.

"It appears the perpetrator may have intended to do far more harm at the school than he managed," said chief criminal investigator Ralf Michelfelder.

[2][17][18] Large numbers of police officers secured the school building and searched for Kretschmer throughout Winnenden for hours without success.

From his position on the rear seat, Kretschmer ordered the car's driver, a man named Igor Wolf, to drive towards Wendlingen, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Winnenden.

Kretschmer and the driver went westwards into the suburbs of Stuttgart, the Baden-Württemberg state capital, travelling through the towns and districts of Waiblingen, Fellbach and Bad Cannstatt, before driving on the B14 dual carriageway through the Heslach Tunnel onto the A81 motorway towards Böblingen and Tübingen.

"[19] According to Wolf, Kretschmer revealed his intentions as he was loading his pistol magazines during the ride: "Do you think we will find another school?"

They are:[24][25] At Winnenden: At Wendlingen: Tim Kretschmer (26 July 1991 – 11 March 2009) lived with his parents in the neighbouring municipality of Leutenbach.

[2][32] Marko Habijanec, a Croatian table tennis player who coached Kretschmer at the Erdmannhausen sports club between 2000 and 2003, remembers him as being "a bit spoiled", with his mother fulfilling many of his demands.

[33] According to Habijanec, Kretschmer had great difficulties accepting defeat: he would have a temper tantrum, yelling and throwing his racket.

[30] After inspection of his computer, officers found that Kretschmer was interested in sadomasochistic scenes where a man is bound and humiliated by women.

[9] The press reported that in 2008, Kretschmer had received treatment as an in-patient at the Weissenhoff Psychiatric Clinic near the town of Heilbronn.

[39] In a press conference on 12 March, police erroneously reported that Kretschmer had announced his killing spree several hours ahead of time on Krautchan.

Tim Kretschmer's father legally owned 15 guns as a member of a local marksmen club ("Schützenverein" in German).

[45] 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 German law.

[1] Baden-Württemberg Minister-President Günther Oettinger travelled to the scene of the crime by helicopter shortly after the news broke.

[53][54] The German parliament passed legislation in June 2009 to improve handgun security with an electronic nationwide weapons registry, increased age limitations for large-calibre weapons and unannounced, random inspections in gun-owner homes to ensure requirements for locked gun storage were met.

[55] In May 2009, Germany announced plans to ban games such as paintball on the grounds that they "trivialise and encourage violence".