On the night of February 27, 2000, the three youths, ages 14, 17 and 18, confessed to throwing rocks at vehicles moving along the B3 motorway, saying that they had been "meeting regularly" for the past four to six weeks to throw rocks at cars. A fourth teenager was questioned and released. The teenagers left a bowling alley near their homes in a base housing complex called Lincoln Village at about 9pm. They carried a snow shovel and some rocks to a pedestrian bridge over the B3 motorway, where they climbed a 6' plastic wall and began throwing rocks at passing cars. Finding that the rocks were not heavy enough to cause the cars to crash, they returned to an area near their school, where they found larger rocks, up to 18 lbs. in weight, and carried them back to the highway where two of the boys handed the rocks to the third, who had climbed onto the wall. They threw a 10-pound rock at a Mercedes-Benz driven by Karin Rothermel, 41, hitting her in the chest and killing her instantly. Rothermel's 75-year-old grandmother was critically injured. At this point they moved to the other side of the bridge, and began hurling rocks at cars moving in the opposite direction, causing one car to crash as it swerved to avoid the rocks. The three then dropped an 18-pound stone onto a BMW driven by Sandra Ottmann, 20, who was driving her grandparents home from a meal celebrating her grandfather's birthday. The rock hit Ottman in the head, killing her. The 17- and 18-year-old rock-throwers were convicted of murder and given terms of 8-and-a-half years each in juvenile facilities; the 14-year-old was given seven years. The three were released early for good behavior and returned to the United States after serving half of their sentences.
Later incidents
A similar rock throwing occurred near the same base in 2003; no one was injured. The children involved ranged in age from 4 to 9 years old.
Reactions
Secretary of Defense William Cohen, said, in a statement issued by the American Embassy in Berlin, that he was "shocked and saddened" by the "tragic accident" and pledged to cooperate closely with German authorities in the investigation. He said that American thoughts and prayers were with the victims' families.
