Euskirchen court shooting
Encyclopedia
The Euskirchen court shooting was an act of mass murder
that occurred at the district court
in Euskirchen
, Germany
on March 9, 1994. Just after his appeal against a sentence for assaulting his former girlfriend, Vera Lamesic, had ended with an upholding of his conviction, 39-year-old Erwin Mikolajczyk re-entered the court building armed with .45-caliber Colt
pistol and a homemade bomb in a backpack. In the hallway he fatally shot Lamesic, two women who had accompanied her, as well as two other people, and then entered the court room where he killed 33-year-old Alexander Schäfer, the judge who had convicted him. When he ran out of bullets, Mikolajczyk killed himself by detonating the bomb. A total of eight people were also wounded in the attack.
as Erwin Mikolajczyk, is based on the incident.
Mass murder
Mass murder is the act of murdering a large number of people , typically at the same time or over a relatively short period of time. According to the FBI, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders...
that occurred at the district court
Amtsgericht
Amtsgericht is German for Local District Court, situated in Germany in almost every larger capital of a rural district.It mainly acts in Civil and Criminal law affairs. It forms the lowest level of the so-called ordinary jurisdiction of the German judiciary , which is responsible for most criminal...
in Euskirchen
Euskirchen
Euskirchen is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the district Euskirchen. While Euskirchen resembles a modern shopping town, it also has a history dating back over 700 years, having been granted town-status in 1302....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
on March 9, 1994. Just after his appeal against a sentence for assaulting his former girlfriend, Vera Lamesic, had ended with an upholding of his conviction, 39-year-old Erwin Mikolajczyk re-entered the court building armed with .45-caliber Colt
Colt
-Firearms company and related:*Colt's Manufacturing Company, an American firearm company*Samuel Colt , its founder*Colt revolver, a firearm made by the company*Colt 45 , various meanings stemming from usage as the name of a firearm...
pistol and a homemade bomb in a backpack. In the hallway he fatally shot Lamesic, two women who had accompanied her, as well as two other people, and then entered the court room where he killed 33-year-old Alexander Schäfer, the judge who had convicted him. When he ran out of bullets, Mikolajczyk killed himself by detonating the bomb. A total of eight people were also wounded in the attack.
Victims
- Peter Kurth
- Vera Lamesic, 56
- Agnes Müller
- Peter Preuß
- Marianne Rübsam
- Alexander Schäfer, 33
In popular culture
The film Tag der Abrechnung – Der Amokläufer von Euskirchen, released the same year and starring Christoph WaltzChristoph Waltz
Christoph Waltz is an Austrian-German actor. He received international acclaim for his portrayal of SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa in the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and...
as Erwin Mikolajczyk, is based on the incident.
External links
- Tödlicher Aufschub, FocusFocus (German magazine)Focus is a German weekly news magazine published in Munich and distributed throughout Germany. It is the third-largest weekly news magazine in Germany. It is considered conservative and leaned towards economic liberalism.- Overview :...
(11/1994) - Schlimmes passiert, Der SpiegelDer SpiegelDer Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
(11/1994) - Bei dem Anschlag sterben sieben Menschen, General-AnzeigerGeneral-AnzeigerThe General-Anzeiger is a regional daily newspaper based in the city of Bonn, the former West German capital in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In addition to the city and its urban surrounds, the distribution of the newspaper and its local editions extends to the neighbouring...
(March 8, 2004) - Amoklauf im Amtsgericht, Kölner Stadt-AnzeigerKölner Stadt-AnzeigerThe Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger is a daily newspaper published in Cologne, Germany, and has the largest circulation in the Cologne/Bonn Metropolitan Region...
(March 8, 2009)