'I thought it was just a joke,' boy says

Winnenden: A survivor of the German high school massacre has described how students thought that Tim Kretschmer was carrying out a prank - until he opened fire without saying a word.

Patrick Schneider, 15, who was shot three times in the attack, said: "We were in a Spanish lesson in room 9C when Tim suddenly came into the classroom.

"He was dressed all in black and he was armed. I noticed that he had a bulletproof vest on. I thought it was just a joke. Then he opened fire. He didn't say anything, just fired. I and the others near me scrambled together.

"There was a crazy amount of shots. My classmates were falling down around me.

"We pushed the desks over and hid behind them. Suddenly I noticed I was hit...

"All of a sudden he was gone. We barricaded the door, then I saw my classmate Chantal. She was slumped by the door, dead."

Pupils gathered outside the Albertville school yesterday to light candles and leave mementos of their friends whose lives were taken by Kretschmer.

Survivors had described how one of the teachers stood in the gunman's way to try to protect her pupils, only to be shot.