| New York Daily News | - |
As
many as 25 people were injured at a German movie theater Thursday when a
masked man stormed the cinema and opened fire. The gunman, clad with an
ammunition belt and carrying a weapon, was shot and killed by police.
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German movie theater attacker shot dead by police after storming cinema with gun; no links to terrorism, officials say
German movie theater attacker shot dead by police after storming cinema with gun
NY Daily News
None of the moviegoers was shot, although as many as 25 people may have been injured by tear gas, local media reported.
Police spokesman Bernd Hochstaedter said the armed man had entered the Kinopolis movie theater in the small western town of Viernheim, about 45 miles south of Frankfurt, around 2:45 p.m.
The attacker, clad with an ammunition belt and carrying a rifle, fired at least one shot in the air before barricading himself inside, police said. The gunman took several people hostage before officers arrived with guns drawn, said police spokewoman Christiane Kobus.
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Heavily armed police stand outside a German movie theater complex where an armed man opened fire Thursday.
(Alexander Scheuber/Getty Images)Initial media reports suggested that as many as 50 people had been injured inside the movie theater, although later, police insisted that no one besides the attacker had been injured.
Some people in the theater may have been hurt by tear gas, German media reported, although it is unclear if the irritating fumes were unleashed by police or the gunman.
A person escapes from a movie theatre complex in Germany, where an armed man reportedly opened fire on Thursday.
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The gunman was a “confused individual” — not an extremist, investigators told local media. Peter Beuth, the interior minister of Hesse state, described the attack at the regional legislature in Wiesbaden, BBC reported.
"The police had an emergency call at 2:45pm. The caller said there was a masked man... armed with a long gun. It is unclear whether it was a real gun," Beuth said. "The caller heard four shots and said that the masked man appeared a little mentally unstable. Police special forces were called."
German police walks past a cinema complex after a masked man with a gun and ammunition belt opened fire in the small western town of Viernheim.
(STAFF/REUTERS)Blakaj and other employees thought the gunman was a costumed moviegoer "but then we quickly realized it was something more serious and we lay on the ground."
"He seemed very confused and was relatively young," Blakaj said.
Heavily armed police stand outside a German movie theater complex where an armed man opened fire Thursday.
(Alexander Scheuber/Getty Images)Darmstadt prosecutor Nina Reininger said her office in the nearby town was investigating but has no information on the gunman's identity.
The movie theater is part of Viernheim's shopping center, which houses about 100 other businesses, according to CNN. More than 20,000 people visit the massive complex every day, though the hot summer afternoon may have kept attendance down Thursday.
Vierhnheim, Germany.
(New York Daily News Illustration )Last month, the U.S. State Department warned American travelers to avoid trips to Europe this summer, citing terror risks.
With News Wire Services
With TOBIAS SALINGER
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