8 killed in mass shooting incident in Germany
At least 8 people have been killed and several others are critically injured in a mass shooting incident in German city of Hanau on late Wednesday after two Hookah joints were targeted.
Police search for shooters
Authorities were searching for the perpetrators early Thursday, hours after the shootings at about 10 pm (2100 GMT), which police said also left about five people wounded.
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.
A short police statement gave no information on the victims. It said the motive is not immediately clear.
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.
Incident almost a month after 6 killed in southwestern German town of Rot am See in January
Earlier on January 24, at least six people were killed and several others injured in another shooting incident that took place in the southwestern German town of Rot am See.
A suspect was arrested and no further suspects were believed to be at large, Aalen police said.
“According to my information, there were six dead and several injured,” said a police spokesman Rudolf Biehlmaier.
“We are working on the assumption that this was a single attacker,” he said.
Biehlmaier said the initial information suggested the suspect, a German citizen, and one or more of the victims knew each other.
Some of the victims belonged to the same family, he added.
Rot am See is located about 170 kilometers (105 miles) northwest of Munich.
(With inputs from AP)
