Essen - A 69-year-old man shot dead a judge in the German city of Essen over a fine he had received almost two decades ago and then killed himself, the city's public prosecutor said.
The assailant entered the judge's office with a Russian army pistol and fired five bullets into his 52-year-old victim, who was the father of four children, the prosecutor, Mr Wolfgang Reinicke, said. The elderly man then shot himself in the head.
In a letter left at the scene, the gunman said he had planned the attack because he hated both the judge, who had fined him and his wife in 1981 for embezzlement, and the legal system, Mr Reinicke said. He also said he regretted not having the time to kill other people in the legal profession.