Armed 16-year-old detained following incident at Upper Bavaria gymnasium

A major police operation was under way in the small Bavarian town of Schongau on Thursday after two 13-year-old girls were seriously injured in an attack at a local secondary school, with a 16-year-old suspect subsequently arrested in connection with the incident. The suspect, who was reported to have been carrying both a knife and a firearm, is believed by investigators to have acted alone, though authorities stressed that the number of other individuals involved and the full severity of their injuries were still being established as the operation continued into the afternoon. A police spokeswoman, speaking to the AFP news agency, initially declined to confirm reports that a knife had been used in the attack, stating that the type of weapon deployed remained unclear, though Bavaria's interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, later told public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk that he believed the two girls had been stabbed, a characterisation that has not yet been formally corroborated by police.

The suspect, whose identity has not been disclosed, was said by Herrmann to have previously received psychiatric treatment, with the minister adding that there were unconfirmed indications suggesting the individual may have been a former student of the Welfen-Gymnasium, the secondary school at the centre of the incident. Police have classified the event as a "rampage", though the precise nature of the attack and the sequence of events leading to the injuries remain subject to ongoing investigation. Neither of the injured girls is believed to be in a life-threatening condition, a detail that has offered some reassurance to a community left shaken by the violence. A contact point for parents and relatives of students has been established at a local fire station, where officials have been providing support and information to those seeking news of their children.

According to the school's website, the Welfen-Gymnasium was founded in 1887 and operated almost exclusively as a girls' school until it became a mixed-gender institution approximately 40 years ago. The town of Schongau, located in the district of Weilheim-Schongau, has a population of around 12,000 inhabitants and is situated roughly 80 kilometres south-west of Munich, in the foothills of the Alps. As the investigation continues, police have refrained from speculating on a motive, though Herrmann's remarks about the suspect's psychiatric history have raised questions about the adequacy of mental health support for young people in the region. The force has not confirmed whether the suspect had any direct links to the school beyond the unverified suggestion of former attendance, and inquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances that precipitated the attack.