Man shoots student in German school and kills himself

A man shot a student in the leg outside a vocational school in western Germany on Friday and then killed himself, police said.

The 24-year-old man fired at the female student and then fled the scene at Kusel, near the city of Saarbruecken, police spokeswoman Christiane Lautenschlaeger said.

Officers caught up with him within minutes, but he shot himself in the head before they could disarm him. He died later at a hospital.

The injured student, age 16, was given medical treatment. Officials decided against evacuating the school.

The gunman was not a student at the school, police spokesman Arno Heeling said. There was no immediate word on a possible motive for the shooting.