(Reuters distributed the following article on November 5.)
BERLIN — German transport authorities said Wednesday they needed to tighten internal security after a teen-ager previously convicted of joyriding with public transport managed to gain control of a Berlin train full of passengers.
A spokeswoman for the Berlin metro rail network said the train driver on duty had unwittingly given the 19-year-old, who was posing as a replacement driver, control of the train during the evening rush hour.
When Berlin rail authorities and police tried to detain him, he fired shots from a gas pistol. Police then shot him in the leg and abdomen.
Managers of the rail line said they would examine how to prevent it from happening again. The line is used by hundreds of thousands of commuters each day.
In 2000 the youth, then 15, commandeered a bus and drove it some 80 kilometers (50 miles) before authorities apprehended him. He was convicted and sent to a youth detention center.
“He apparently picked up passengers along the way. I don’t know if he stuck to the bus route,” a Berlin court spokesman said. “The best thing would probably be to give him an official job.”