Teacher remembers

Chasing burglars: “Brave, but also reckless”

Here at Hausmannstätten secondary school, teacher Konrad Hamm put a stop to a burglar shortly before midnight.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Mittelschule Hausmannstätten (2))

With the words "What are you doing?", PE teacher Konrad Hamm shouted at a night-time intruder at his school, who he thought was a former pupil. In fact, he was dealing with a suspected serial offender.

As reported, an attempted break-in at the Hausmannstätten secondary school (Graz-Umgebung) on Tuesday night failed due to the courageous teacher (47). He was still working in his school late that evening, at 11.25 p.m. to be precise.

"I love the silence in the building"
"I often stay late at school because I love the silence in the building and can then work with great concentration," Hamm explained to the Krone. When he heard a noise but the door to the staff room didn't open, he looked out and saw a "large black figure". His first thought: a rioting ex-pupil, which is why he approached the stranger directly.

German, biology and PE teacher Hamm can smile about the incident: "The pupils were thrilled the next day, but some of them didn't understand why I called the police and didn't make short work of it myself."(Bild: Mittelschule Hausmannstätten, Krone KREATIV)

The burglar, who had gained access to the school building via a broken window, then fled. And Hamm soon had the upper hand: "I chased him out of the school and caught up with him in the parking lot." There he was able to overpower the man, a 27-year-old German citizen from the Graz area, which, according to the teacher, required quite a bit of physical strength.

Intruder had a screwdriver in his hand
It was only when he saw that his opponent had a screwdriver in his hand that it dawned on him that his action was "courageous - but also reckless". Hamm was grateful that the police arrived quickly, as he would not have been able to restrain the man for long.

The officers arrested the 27-year-old, who is believed to be the perpetrator of other burglaries - including at schools - in the Graz area. He partially confessed and was sent to Jakomini prison by order of the public prosecutor's office.

"Anyone who breaks into schools probably doesn't have a great life"
Konrad Hamm, who is now the number one topic of conversation at his school, shows sympathy for the suspect: "Someone who breaks into schools probably doesn't have a great life. In the parking lot, he said: if I let him go, he'll go home and not do anything else." He didn't go along with that: "Well, that's not how it works," was the teacher's terse reply.