German police have shot dead a masked man
after entering a movie theater in southwestern
Germany with what appeared to be a rifle and
taking several hostages.
The armed man entered the Kinopolis movie
theater in the town of Viernheim in the early
afternoon and apparently fired a gun.
Christiane Kobus , a police spokeswoman said
the man held several people hostage but she
didn’t have a precise number.
Officers “ successively entered the cinema and
were able to locate the man and the people he
was holding. “ There was a threat situation and
the man was then shot dead by a colleague”, she
said.
No one was hurt in the 3 hour engagement.
She added that she had no information on the
assailant’s identity and motives.
Hesse state’s interior minister, Peter Beuth , said
it wasn’t clear whether the weapon was
functional, and police said they were still
checking that. Beuth told the regional legislature
in Wiesbaden that the man was masked and that
apparently four shots were fired.
It was said the man gave an impression to be
confused.
