Advertisement

'All clear': Dresden hostage situation ends

The Local (news@thelocal.com)
The Local ([email protected])
'All clear': Dresden hostage situation ends
Special forces of the German police stand in the center of the city of Dresden. Photo:Jens Schlueter/ AFP

German police have confirmed that a hostage situation in a Dresden shopping centre has ended.

Advertisement

German police say the hostage situation in a shopping centre in the eastern city of Dresden has ended.

According to BILD, an armed man killed an elderly woman on Saturday morning then shot at the Radio Dresden offices with a pistol. He reportedly then fled to the Altmarktgalerie shopping centre and took hostages in a pharmacy. 

Advertisement

Deutsche Welle reports that the nearby Striezelmarkt Christmas market was closed briefly, but the hostage situation ended in the early afternoon.

Posting on Twitter, police confirmed the operation in Dresden city centre was over, adding that two people, thought to be hostages, were unharmed and in the care of police: "All clear! The hostage situation in #Dresden is over! Two people are in our care, apparently unharmed. #dd1012".

 

The city centre, which had been closed temporarily by police, has reopened.

A police spokesman confirmed that a suspect has been arrested: "We arrested the 40-year-old hostage taker. There are now two people in our care who were in his power," spokesman Thomas Geithner said.

German daily newspaper Bild reports that neither of the hostages were injured.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also