Thieves Drive Off Bystanders with a Blank-Firing Gun

Thieves Drive Off Bystanders with a Blank-Firing Gun is the moment the school-computer theft spills from a concealed break-in into an armed confrontation in the street. While moving stolen computers through the neighborhood, Lukas, Sanchez, and Julius are challenged by a group of men; Julius fires his blank-firing gun, and the men scatter. The intervention gets the three away from the immediate threat, but makes their escape more dangerous and leaves gunshots for the police to connect, though initially they cannot establish whether the shots and burglary are related.

From the Break-In to the Street

The confrontation follows a burglary planned around access to the school and the prospect of valuable new equipment. Julius first produces a lockpick, boasting that it can open doors, cars, and cellars. Sanchez answers by throwing down a large key ring; Julius recognizes the school keys and puts the lockpick away. Later, Sanchez unlocks the school gate and leads the others toward an entrance near the seventh-year classrooms. Julius reveals that he has brought a silver-colored blank-firing gun, tucked into his waistband. Lukas had taken Julius's earlier talk about the weapon as a joke; seeing it for real, he understands that discovery could now mean more than punishment for trespass and theft.

Inside, the boys search the storage area for the new computers. Sanchez spots unopened cartons on high shelves, with computers and monitors pictured on them. Lukas climbs a small step and passes the equipment down to Sanchez and Julius. They take the computers outside and load them into a shopping cart. The theft has supplied a motive for their nighttime journey, but the cart also makes their cargo conspicuous and difficult to move quickly.

The Encounter at the Crossing

As the three approach Zwickauer Damm, music and voices grow louder from a bar and a gambling arcade. Lukas hears what sounds like a group of at least four or five people. A police car with its blue lights on races up behind them; its siren sounds at close range before it continues through the intersection and turns away. The brief pass does not stop the boys, but it intensifies the uncertainty of crossing the road with the loaded cart.

On the other side, a man runs up to the group near the bar, says something, and runs on. Two of the men rush inside, and the music abruptly stops. One of those remaining shouts at the thieves for staring. Julius turns the cart handle toward Lukas and tells him to push. Sanchez, apparently treating the crossing as clear, urges them onward. Lukas hesitates, then follows with the cart as its rattling carries through the suddenly quiet blocks. Five men stand outside the bar; Lukas estimates that they are in their early or middle twenties, older than the three teenagers.

The men shout at them to take their cart elsewhere. When the thieves do not slow down, one charges toward them, with his companions following. A glass bottle breaks a few metres in front of Lukas; another flies toward them. Lukas shields his face with one hand and nearly loses his grip on the cart. The threat has changed from shouted abuse to a physical attack, and the boys are exposed in the road with their stolen equipment.

Julius Fires and the Group Flees

Julius answers by shouting back, reaching for his waistband, and pointing the blank-firing gun at the men. He fires three times. The men immediately throw themselves to the ground, while doors slam at the nearby gambling arcade and bar. Julius keeps his arm extended and, breathing heavily, warns them that next time he will hit them. The performance of a weapon has abruptly reversed the encounter: the men who had advanced with bottles now face the apparent threat of gunfire.

The men get up and run. Julius fires twice more after them, bringing the total to five shots. Sanchez lowers Julius's outstretched arm and urges everyone to run. Julius throws the gun into the shopping cart, pushes Lukas away from its handle, and takes over pushing it as he follows Sanchez. Lukas looks around helplessly before sprinting after them. The immediate result is escape, not a reported injury; the scene does not establish that anyone was struck by the shots.

Police Attention and the Cost of the Escape

When police later brief students at the school, they report that computers and monitors worth several thousand euros were stolen over the weekend. Residents have described three male figures in black hooded jackets carrying the stolen goods in a shopping cart toward U-Bahnhof Zwickauer Damm. The officers also say that shots were heard near the station that same evening, but stress that they do not yet know whether the gunfire is connected to the burglary or whether the thieves were armed. The narrative has already shown the reader that the three boys' loaded cart and Julius's gun were present during the shots; the police have clues, not a confirmed account.

That gap makes the gunfire consequential beyond the roadside encounter. The boys used the weapon to force their pursuers to retreat, but the shots created an audible trace that residents could report and investigators could place beside the burglary. At the time, Lukas is already fearful of being exposed, and the police announcement deepens that fear. The escape therefore offers only a temporary reprieve: the same act that gets the thieves away from the men with bottles also helps turn their covert crime into a public event under investigation.