On 24 June 1982, a mass shooting occurred in Nuremberg, Bavaria, West Germany. 26-year-old Helmut Oxner opened fire inside a discotheque and in the street, killing three people and wounding three others before killing himself. A known neo-Nazi with links to far-right organizations and previous violations of firearms laws, Oxner targeted foreigners during his shooting spree.
At 9:45p.m. on 24 June 1982, Oxner drove from his parents' house in the suburban neighborhood of Röthenbach into the city center, parking in Kartäusergasse.[1] He carried a shoulder bag concealing three handguns and 200 rounds of ammunition.[1] At Königstrasse 74, Oxner descended the steps to the Twenty Five discotheque, a venue frequented by black customers.[1][2] When asked to pay by the bouncer, Oxner drew a .357 Magnum revolver from his bag and shot and killed William Schenk, a 24-year-old African-American civilian resident of Nuremberg.[2] Oxner ran inside the discotheque, shooting randomly at perceived foreigners on the dance floor.[1][2] He killed a 27-year-old African-American army sergeant, Rufus Surles, and wounded a Korean woman.[2] Ali K., a waiter described variously as Turkish or Libyan, charged Oxner and disarmed him, but was injured when Oxner took out a Walther PPK pistol and continued shooting.[1][3] Arming himself with the Walther PPK and a Luger P08 pistol, Oxner exited the bar.[1][2] He spared a local resident after demanding to know whether he was Turkish; when the man answered to the contrary, Oxner ran off towards Luitpoldstrasse.[2] While running, he shouted at local police officers taking cover, stating, "Ich schieße nur auf Türken!" (I only shoot at Turks!)[2][4] At some point, he also shouted, "Es lebe der Nationalsozialismus!" (Long live National Socialism!)[2]
In Luitpoldstrasse, Oxner spotted a group of foreigners and shot at them, killing 21-year-old Egyptian Mohamed Ehap (or Ehab) and wounding Sultan A., a native of Libya, in the jaw.[2] Oxner then took cover in Klaragasse, exchanging gunfire with police who arrived at the scene.[2] After being shot in the hip by an officer, Oxner turned his gun on himself and shot himself twice in the heart and lungs, dying instantly.[2][4][5]
Perpetrator
The gunman was identified as Helmut Oxner, a 26-year-old German man who worked as a roofer for his father.[3][4] Oxner was a known extremist with ties to several far-right organizations.[2] From 1979 to 1981, Oxner attended local meetings of the National Democratic Party of Germany, as well as its youth wing, the Junge Nationalisten.[2] He was expelled from the organization in January 1981 after making anti-Semitic statements.[2][4] On 23 June 1982, one day prior to the shooting, Oxner and a 29-year-old accomplice appeared in court, charged with incitement and making threats for insulting Turkish and Jewish people in telephone calls.[2][4] Having alluded to the murder in their calls, the two were investigated for involvement in the murder of Shlomo Levin, a Jewish community leader shot to death in 1980.[4] However, they were determined to have had no connection to the shooting.[4][6] After the two men confessed to the separate crime of vandalising Nuremberg's city walls with neo-Nazi slogans, Oxner's accomplice was sentenced to 15 months in prison, while Oxner himself retracted his confession and had a retrial scheduled in the fall of 1982.[a][2][4]
In 1977, Oxner joined a sport shooting club and was allowed to possess weapons after the gun range instructor and neighbors testified to his character and expertise with firearms.[4] According to Der Spiegel, complaints were routinely filed to the city government warning of Oxner's illegal possession of firearms and his potential for violence, but no action was taken.[2][4] City official Helmut Rietzer later stated that the government believed Oxner was an ardent supporter of violent ideas, but not at risk of taking violent action.[4] In early 1981, during a search of Oxner's house, police determined he illegally possessed at least two pistols and confiscated them.[2][4] He was charged with violating firearms laws.[2][4] Several months later, police dropped the charges, merely requesting Oxner pay 200 Deutsche Marks to charity.[2][4]
Along with his weapons, Oxner's shoulder bag contained stickers reading "We Are Back" and containing the letters NSDAP, an abbreviation for the Nazi Party's official name.[3] A prosecutor's spokesman stated that the stickers contained the initials "ao", possibly linking them to the NSDAP/AO, an American neo-Nazi organization founded by Gary Lauck.[3]
Aftermath
The government and media's labelling of the attack sparked controversy, as the shooting was officially described as a "rampage" with no political connotations.[4] The state of Bavaria's special criminal investigation commissioner, Erwin Hösl, described Oxner as mentally ill, while Bavaria's Interior Ministry stated he was a "terrorist loner."[4]Der Spiegel unfavorably compared this and the police's treatment of Oxner's firearms violations to actions against left-wing criminals.[4] In 2012, the Interior Ministry classified the attack as being motivated by xenophobia and right-wing views; therefore, the attack was targeted towards foreigners, and not a random rampage.[7]
As of 2023, no memorial existed to the victims of the shooting.[8]
Notes
↑ Der Spiegel states that both men retracted their confessions.[4]
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