By DPA
Dusseldorf (Germany) : Another German school was closed Tuesday after the second shooting plot warning in four days, officials said.
The precautionary measure was taken after the police in Finland warned their German counterparts of a possible threat against the high school in Kaarst near the western city of Dusseldorf.
The warning came after Finnish police monitoring an internet forum heard two people mention they had heard that a shooting might take place at the German school.
On Nov 7, a Finnish high-school student killed six students and two women in a school shooting in the small town of Jokela before turning his gun on himself.
“The warning was very vague, but we had to take it seriously because the security of the pupils had priority,” German police spokesman Ralf Kamphausen said.
On Friday, the police learned that two youths planned to invade their school in the city of Cologne Tuesday armed with crossbows. Pupils were told to stay away as a precaution.
A 17-year-old suspect threw himself in front of a tram and died after he was questioned by the police about the plot.
His 18-year-old accomplice was released Monday after telling the police the pair had abandoned their plan a month ago.
The 17-year-old boy who died had resold his arrows and crossbow parts, and written in a chat forum that he did not want to act alone.
Logs from an internet community forum used by German schoolchildren showed the two youths had fantasised about a detailed plan of attack.
But the police faced questions about their handling of the plot and about why the 17-year-old was not escorted home to his mother or given counselling.
Tuesday marked the first anniversary of a school shooting in Emsdetten, Germany, where an 18-year-old youth injured 37 people at his former school before taking his own life.
Georg Moenikes, the mayor of Emsdetten, said the repercussions of the attack were still being felt, with some pupils and teachers still receiving counselling.