Nine killed in suspected far-right attack in Germany; suspect dead
A suspect was found dead after at least nine people were fatally shot Wednesday in the city of Hanau, German authorities said.
Six other people are thought to have been seriously injured in the bloodbath in the Kesselstadt district of the city, which is near Frankfurt, the Daily Mail reported.
The attacks appear to have been motivated by far-right beliefs, officials said Thursday.
Authorities found the 43-year-old German suspect dead in his home in Hanau hours after the shootings at about 10 p.m. local time. An investigation is underway and police said there are no other suspects. Some witnesses reported that the attacker was in a car when he opened fire, according to German media reports.
The suspect was found dead near his 72-year-old mother, said Peter Beuth, the interior minister for the state of Hesse. A website believed to be the suspect’s is being evaluated, he said.
“Initial analysis of the webpage of the suspect indicate a xenophobic motivation,” Beuth said. He said federal prosecutors have taken over the investigation of the crime and are treating it as an act of domestic terrorism.
Some of the victims are believed to be Turkish. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the consulate in Frankfurt and the embassy in Berlin were trying to obtain information
A hookah lounge, also known as a shisha bar or den, is a meeting place where patrons share flavored tobacco from a communal hookah or from one placed at each table or a bar. In Western countries, shisha parlors are often owned and operated by people from the Arab world or South Asia, where use of the hookah is a centuries-old tradition.
“This was a terrible evening that will certainly occupy us for a long, long time and we will remember with sadness,” Hanau Mayor Claus Kaminsky told the Bild newspaper.
The shooting comes four days after another in Germany, near a Turkish comedy show in Berlin, that killed one person. Mass shootings are relatively rare in Germany, due to stricter gun laws.
A heavy police presence was in place in central Hanau, with officers cordoning off the scene of one of the shootings as a helicopter hovered overhead. A car covered in thermal foil also could be seen, with shattered glass next to it. Forensic experts in white overalls collected evidence.
Police said a dark vehicle was seen leaving the scene of the first shooting, and another shooting was reported at a second site.
Regional public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk said, without citing sources, that an attack took place in a hookah lounge in the center of the city. It said witnesses reported hearing eight or nine shots and seeing at least one person lying on the ground.
The gunman then apparently went to another part of the city, where shots were fired in another hookah lounge, the broadcaster said.
Hanau is in southwestern Germany, about 12 miles east of Frankfurt. It has about 100,000 inhabitants and is located in Hesse state.
Police from neighboring Bavaria were deployed to help their local colleagues, news agency dpa reported.
Many shisha parlors incorporate such elements as Islamic decor and Arabic music or Indian music and have traditional decor, but some are simply bars without the eastern cultural elements.
Hanau has a population of around 100,000 people. Known for the precious metal industry, it is home to Heraeus, one of Germany’s largest private companies which specialises in precious metals and medical technology, the Guardian reports.
It is also the birthplace of the noted folklorists Brothers Grimm.
CONTRIBUTING: Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hanau shootings kills 9 in Germany; suspect found dead
