A German man accused of shooting dead his parents, four relatives and seriously injuring two others at a family gathering confessed to the crime on the first day of his trial on Monday.

The 27-year-old defendant faces charges of murder and attempted murder.

He allegedly killed his parents, his half-sister, his half-brother, his uncle and his aunt in the town of Rot am See, located in the south-western state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Another aunt and uncle were able to escape despite also being shot.

The man is said to have shot 30 bullets during the bloodbath on Jan. 24, before calling the police and handing himself in.

The shooting took place in the father’s apartment block, in which the alleged killer also lived. The family had met for a funeral there.

The man said he had been planning the attack for some time, having joined a marksmen’s club and legally obtained a gun prior to the crime.

He gave a detailed statement to the court in the town of Ellwangen, explaining that he had acted out of hatred towards his mother, whom he described as abusive.

“I wish I hadn’t done it,” the young man said, while noting that his feelings of regret varied severely.

“My mother ruined my life,” he added, claiming that she had frequently mixed substances into his food. He told the court that she had poisoned him with female hormones, after having told him she wished he’d been a girl.

The defendant expressed regret at having killed his father, but noted that he lost control while shooting: “I shot at everything that moved.”

He spoke of his extreme distrust of the people around him, describing an introverted life even within the family home, in which he installed security cameras in his room and listened in on his parents’ phone calls.

The defendant will receive a psychiatric assessment during the course of the trial, with prosecutors noting that he may suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. (dpa/NAN)

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