Dramatic hours in the middle of the Advent rush in Dresden: an armed man terrified the Saxon capital for hours with a hostage in a shopping center, a murder and an attack on a radio station. When special police units entered, the 40-year-old German was overwhelmed on Saturday afternoon in the Altmark-Galerie shopping center. He died shortly afterwards from the injuries sustained. Police believe he was mentally ill. The man is said to have killed his 62-year-old mother in the morning. The hostages and the employees of the radio station were – at least on the outside – unharmed.
The crime poses numerous mysteries to the criminals. The investigation is now being carried out by the public prosecutor’s office, the police and the public prosecutor’s office announced on Sunday. Among other things, it must be clarified whether the perpetrator was legally allowed to own his weapon or how he got it. “Further information is currently not possible. The processing of the mission and the investigations will take some time, “said the ministry. What drove the 40-year-old to commit the crimes is completely uncertain so far.
Police initially assumed it was a murder spree, as they were given information about three crime scenes. In the morning, the man allegedly killed his mother in the Prohlis district of Dresden. Police received a report of the crime around 7:20 a.m. The perpetrator then tried to break into the Radio Dresden station in the city center with guns and shots. When he did this, he had a friend’s nine-year-old child with him. How it happened – that too was initially unclear.
He later hid with the child and a 38-year-old employee in an office in the Altmarkt-Galerie shopping center. At that time, the shops were not yet open, but visitors could already stroll inside the gallery. The building was immediately evacuated and cordoned off. The adjacent Striezelmarkt also remained closed for the time being.
According to the police, the hostage-taker called the emergency number from the office. Officials were able to keep in touch with him at all times, it said. The Dresden police then requested special units from the Saxony state criminal investigation department. “As the process progressed, emergency services heard gunshots from the office and a prepared relief effort took place. Officers had to force open a door, police said. Firearms were used. The 40-year-old had a sharp pistol with him. The hostages appeared unharmed, but received medical attention.
“The processing of the operation and the investigation will take some time,” the police said. About 300 officers were deployed in total.
The events must have been a martyrdom not only for the two hostages in the Altmarkt gallery. Employees of Radio Dresden were also terrified in the morning. The man tried to destroy a door and shot through a hole in the door, says general director Tino Utassy of the German news agency. “Fortunately, the employees were so quick to understand and then ran through a second exit and fled.”
The morning show teams of Hitradio RTL and Radio Dresden were affected. The perpetrator tried to break into the studios around 8:30 am on Saturday morning. It is difficult to describe how the employees are doing. “They say they are fine, but of course we don’t know for sure. Of course we will do everything we can to make sure they get the right help,” said Utassy.
Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer and Interior Minister Armin Schuster (both CDU) thanked the emergency services for their prompt and prudent action. He was shocked by the act of a suspected mentally disturbed lone perpetrator and relieved that police were able to free the two hostages unharmed, Schuster said. “This act shows how fragile pre-Christmas contemplation and lightheartedness can be,” stressed Dresden Mayor Dirk Hilbert.
The public prosecutor’s office says it wants to investigate the circumstances of the death of the hostage-taker as part of the investigation. The man himself is under investigation on suspicion of manslaughter, senior prosecutor Jürgen Schmidt told the German news agency on Sunday. It was started before the perpetrator died.
(yam/sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
