Deadly shooting spree at Hungarian university

By: MTI

2009-11-27 09:20

A pharmacology student fired shots inside a building of Pecs University in the south of Hungary just before noon on Thursday, killing a classmate and wounding another student, a male lab worker and a cleaning woman, local county police chief told the press from the site.

Police have arrested the attacker, a 23 year-old man, who gave himself up over the phone shortly after firing the shots with a handgun, Jozsef Dakos said.

He is said to have attended a lab class with 20 other students at the university's biophysics research institute, when he suddenly stood up and left the classroom, to return shortly with a 9mm Parabellum pistol and opening fire in the room.

The 19-year-old male student died on the spot, another 19-year-old male classmate is still in critical condition, while the condition of a 36-year-old man who worked in the lab and a 54-year-old woman, a member of the cleaning staff, have been stabilised.

The suspect has been a member of a local shooting club, and had a permit for the handgun. His motives are unknown, Dakos said.

A student from the same university on condition of anonymity described the attacker as a clever, introverted person who "had issues."

Justice Minister Tibor Draskovics, who held a briefing at the scene with the education minister in the afternoon, said that there were no suggestions that a terrorist act had been carried out, and that the student is likely to have had personal reasons for the attack, though there was no confirmation of suggestions that he had been under medical treatment.

Draskovics said that Hungary's laws on the possession of firearms had to be reviewed to see if any tightening is necessary.

Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said the government would extend aid to the victim's family and the injured. He added that although there was no way to foresee what had happened, everything must be done to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Representatives of political parties sent their condolences as well.