German teen had a ‘licence to kill’

A member of two gun clubs, he was legally entitled to carry the weapons. Steinhaeuser was a superb shot, felling his victims with a single round. Wordlessly brushing past students, he then stood over his victims and pumped two or three more rounds into each to make sure they were dead.

Germany is in a state of distress and confusion following the massacre, apparently triggered by Steinhaeuser’s expulsion from the school for repeatedly forging doctors’ notes so he could skip class. Students described Steinhaeuser, who was pale and had a buzz-cut, as intelligent, difficult and egotistical. But no one had any intimation of his violent potential, police said. ‘‘One day, I want everyone to know my name and I want to be famous,’’ Steinhaeuser told fellow student Isabell Hartung.

Steinhaeuser stormed into a classroom and students said he shot wildly and the rampage ended when Rainer Heise, 60, a history teacher, confronted him. German media branded Heise a hero when details emerged of how the balding academic grabbed hold of the gun-toting former pupil’s shirt.

‘‘He then pulled off his mask and I said: ‘Robert?’,’’ Heise told ZDF television. ‘‘I said go ahead and shoot me, but look me in the face.’’ ‘‘It was a fearless teacher who ended the massacre,’’ said Germany’s N-TV television. Steinhaeuser replied in formal language and referred to the teacher respectfully as ‘‘Herr Heise’’. ‘‘That’s it for today,’’ Heise quoted the troubled teenager as saying.