The Euskirchen court shooting was an act of mass murder that occurred at the district court in Euskirchen, Germany on 9 March 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 approached Lamesic, hugged her, then fatally shot her, 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 ammunition, Mikolajczyk killed himself by detonating the bomb. A total of eight people were also wounded in the attack.[1]
| Euskirchen court shooting | |
|---|---|
 Erwin Mikolajczyk | |
| Location | Euskirchen, Germany |
| Date | 9 March 1994 12:58 p.m. (CET) |
Attack type | Mass murder, suicide bombing |
| Weapons | .45-caliber Colt pistol Homemade bomb |
| Deaths | 7 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 8 |
| Perpetrator | Erwin Mikolajczyk |
Victims
edit- Peter Kurth
- Vera Lamesic, 56
- Agnes Müller
- Peter Preuß
- Marianne Rübsam
- Alexander Schäfer, 33
In popular culture
editThe film Judgment Day, released the same year and starring Christoph Waltz as Erwin Mikolajczyk, is based on the incident.[2]
References
edit- ^ Brother warned police about courtroom killer, Toledo Blade (11 March 1994)
- ^ Der „Amokläufer von Euskirchen" Archived 4 September 2012 at archive.today, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (9 March 2010)
External links
edit- Tödlicher Aufschub, Focus (11/1994)
- Schlimmes passiert, Der Spiegel (11/1994)
- Bei dem Anschlag sterben sieben Menschen, General-Anzeiger (8 March 2004)
- Amoklauf im Amtsgericht, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (8 March 2009)
- Germany – Courtroom shootout, Associated Press (10 March 1994) (Video)