CRIMEGERMANY
German police arrest suspect in Karlsruhe hostage situation
4 hours ago4 hours ago
Up to a dozen people were held hostage for almost five hours in a pharmacy in the center of the southwestern German city. Police ultimately forced entry and arrested a young male after multiple attempts to negotiate.
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Police in the city of Karlsruhe arrested one suspect after a five-hour hostage drama at a pharmacy on Thursday.
What were the details of the incident?
Several people had been taken hostage around 4:30 p.m. local time (1530 UTC/GMT) at the store in the center of the southwestern city. Police said they arrived at the scene within a couple of minutes because units happened to be nearby.
Police were in contact with the hostage taker prior to entering the building. They later said the man they arrested was 20 years old who was already known to law enforcement, with a past record of violent, property-related and general criminal activity.
“At 9:10 p.m. a specialist unit forced entry into the pharmacy and arrested the suspected hostage-taker,” police and public prosecutors said in a joint statment.
Eyewitnesses said a loud bang could be heard as they entered.
Police later said all of the hostages were unharmed after the operation.
Police and proseuctors believe the man had 12 people as hostages, though they were trying to ascertain whether one of them, a woman, might have been an accomplice.
Local media reports had suggested that the hostage taker had demanded a ransom of several million euros.
Police and prosecutors said the suspect’s potential motives or reasons were not yet clear.
Police cars in KarlsruhePolice cars in Karlsruhe
Police cordoned off the area in the central part of the cityImage: Martin Oversohl/dpa/picture alliance
Area cordoned off, events canceled
Police said that the situation did not pose a danger to the broader public, but asked people to avoid the area and follow the instructions of emergency services.
Police cordoned off an “ample” area around the pharmacy where the hostage situation was ongoing.
According to the German news agency dpa, the police were calling in additional emergency forces.
A school was opened up for residents who were unable to reach their homes in cordoned-off areas, police said.
Events that were scheduled at nearby venues were canceled.
Karslruhe is a city of roughly 300,000 people in southwestern Germany. It is home to the constitutional court and the other top federal courts.
sdi/msh (dpa, Reuters, AFP)
