Psychiatry How could a rampage run in Munich?

At least nine people killed in rampage in Munich - How is it??
In Munich, at least nine people were killed in an attack in and in front of a shopping center, many were injured. The police believe that the perpetrator was an 18-year-old man who subsequently shot himself. The facts of the case are not yet clear. Maybe it was a killing spree. How can it come to that?

At least 16 people murdered
The whole world is currently looking at Munich. In the Bavarian capital, there was a shootout in front of and in the Olympia shopping center (OEZ) on early Friday evening. The alleged perpetrator - the police currently expects an 18-year-old individual offender - shot it with a pistol and killed nine people, at least 16 people were injured. A few hours later, the police found a dead man, who was probably the shooter. "As part of the search, we found a person who killed himself," writes the Munich police on "twitter". "This is a high probability. the perpetrator who acted alone according to the current state of investigation. "

In Munich, nine people were shot dead on Friday and 16 were injured. The police are based on a single perpetrator. Maybe it was a killing spree. How can it come to that? (Image: VRD / fotolia.com)

Offender apparently kills himself
Although the number of perpetrators and the victims was long unclear, but now the police assume that an 18-year-old German-Iranians has delivered the deadly gunfire from Munich. According to the police, he probably acted alone. According to Munich police chief Hubertus Andrä, the perpetrator had started to shoot in a fast food restaurant, then he fired shots at the mall and took flight. The body of the young man was found about a kilometer from the shopping center. He is said to have lived in Munich for more than two years, not to have been a police officer and to have shot with a pistol.

Was it a killing spree??
Initially, there was talk of an "acute terrorist situation", but it is now not likely that there have been other perpetrators. Police are expanding their investigation and, among other things, ransacked the alleged offender's home. But the background of the deed and the motive are still completely unclear. Was it a massacre like in Winnenden in Swabia in 2009, when 16 people lost their lives in a massacre? Some things speak for it. How can such terrible acts happen??

Violent video games alone are not an explanation
When it comes to bad events such as the rampage in Winnenden, the social life of the perpetrator is examined by the police and the media. This is an unexplained behavior of a child or adolescent through details of past social life give answers. In the case of Winnenden, 17-year-old Tim K. had a fondness for so-called first-person shooters, which are about eliminating the opponent in the game. Although PC game critics argue that such excesses of violence are caused by the use of computer games, social researchers argue that the rate of outbreaks of violence would have to be much higher when compared to the millions of consumptions if PC games actually led to such behavioral patterns , However, factors that lead to such behavior are not excluded. The sole answer to the terrible deeds is certainly not the video games.

Possible causes for a killing spree
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines amok as an "arbitrary, apparently unprovoked episode of murderous or significant (alien) destructive behavior". This act of violence must endanger several people, that is to say injure or even kill, if amok should be the speech, it says on the website "psychosocial-gesundheit.net". Like Prof. Dr. med. Volker Faust explains that psychosocial causes come first. "Discrimination, humiliation, insults and insults are mentioned, whereby the person concerned decides for himself whether appropriate or unfair, whether real or conceited, but mostly in his sullen, bitter or even despairing sense". Mental illnesses can also play a role: "The fact that an amok runner can not be mentally healthy is quite obvious. But whether it is a mental disorder specifically described in psychiatric illness, such as schizophrenia, depression, neurosis or personality disorder, among others. - that is still largely unclear. "Although biological causes are also being discussed, there is still a great need for clarification and therefore research.

Prevention of such acts of violence
For several years, the research group "TARGET" has been involved in a comparative analysis of cases of highly expressive targeted violence with individual perpetrators in Germany. The interdisciplinary project with a team of psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, sociologists and educators does not just take a lot of rampage but all the serious, targeted killings of young people up to 25 years as well as selected cases of older offenders under the microscope. In addition, the analyzed cases should be compared with similar acts and also planned but prevented acts should be investigated. "Based on the results of the TARGET project, scientific progress should be made in predicting, preventing and intervening such violence" write the experts. (Ad)