He killed his mother, shot reporters, then took hostages in a shopping mall
The man who was arrested by police in the German city of Dresden after taking two hostages at the Altmarkt-Galerie shopping mall has died of injuries sustained during a police operation to free the kidnappers, German authorities said, quoted by the DP extension.
The 40-year-old is also suspected of killing his mother, as well as shooting at the building that houses Radio Dresden.
According to police, the two hostages – a child and a mall employee – were released without visible injuries after the operation, which was carried out by a special tactics unit.
It is not yet clear whether the suspect self-harmed or was injured by police units.
Law enforcement officials declined to give further details about the operation, BTA said.
The hostage crisis at the Altmarkt-Galerie in central Dresden was preceded by other violent incidents in the east of the city.
Shortly after seven in the morning local time, police found the lifeless body of the man’s 62-year-old mother in a residential building in Prolis district.
About an hour later, the man broke into the building that houses Radio Dresden, according to the executive director of media.
The attacker was unable to open the door, but fired at the offices of the radio station through a gap.
The radio operators managed to escape without being physically injured.
The suspect then went to the Altmarkt-Galerie shopping center and barricaded himself in a room with the hostages.
Police said that before the special forces entered, the negotiators contacted the kidnapper by telephone.
The man appeared to be mentally disturbed and is still believed to have suffered from a mental illness.
Lower Saxony state interior minister Armin Schuster said he was shocked by what happened and that the attacker acted alone, Reuters noted.
