Two dead in Baden-Württemberg, shots fired in Hamburg – police give initial details

Shots in Hamburg's Hafencity, a large police operation at the Elbphilharmonie, a total of three dead: A 68-year-old man is said to have killed his father-in-law and his wife in his home community of Eningen unter Achalm in Baden-Württemberg and then killed himself in Hamburg. Based on current knowledge, the police assume that the background to the crimes could be family-related.

The bodies of the wife and father-in-law were found that morning at the 68-year-old man's home address south of Stuttgart, Hamburg police said. The suspected perpetrator was later discovered dead in a hotel room at the Elbphilharmonie.

According to the police, the German had previously injured a 39-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man by shooting in Hamburg's Hafencity. The woman's life is still in danger, the man's condition is stable, it was said.

The investigators were able to track down Eningen unter Achalm through the personal details of the man who was later found dead in the hotel. “Two bodies were found in the apartment around 11:30 a.m.,” the police said. The suspect's 65-year-old wife and 90-year-old father-in-law were victims of a violent crime.

Police and the fire department's rescue service had been on duty in the Hafencity in Hamburg since shortly before 9 a.m. with numerous forces, including special forces from the State Criminal Police Office. A man and a woman with gunshot wounds had previously been found in a stairwell on Am Kaiserkai Street.

The police spokesman was initially unable to say whether the two victims had already been threatened in the previous days and whether there had been an announcement of the extended suicide in advance. This is part of the police investigation. When asked whether emergency services had also used the firearm, the spokesman said: “I am not aware of any shots being fired by police forces.”

In the afternoon, the police declared the large-scale operation around the Elbphilharmonie to be largely over. Now the investigative work by the homicide squad is beginning, as a spokesman for the Hamburg police said.

The Hamburg Elbphilharmonie was partially evacuated due to the operation at midday. Guests from the Elbphilharmonie viewing platform and hotel were escorted out of the building by emergency services, as dpa reporters observe.

There were also several children among them. “The Hamburg police policed ​​a medium double-digit number of children who were in the Elbphilharmonie in the building,” said the police spokesman. At the time of the operation, a school concert was taking place in the small hall of the Elbphilharmonie, as can be seen from the program on the Elbphilharmonie website.

During the search for the perpetrator with more than a dozen patrol cars, there were eventually indications that the suspect was staying in a hotel room at the Elbphilharmonie, the investigators said. “Special forces from the State Criminal Police Office then entered the hotel room under full protection because we had indications that the suspect (...) may also have access to dangerous substances.” Therefore, a decontamination container was set up in front of the concert hall and several emergency services wore orange protective suits. However, the suspicion was not confirmed. “Based on the current situation, we assume that no dangerous substance was found in the hotel room.”

After the police operation in Hamburg's Hafencity, Interior Senator Andy Grote (SPD) thanked the forces deployed. “I would like to thank all of our police forces who were on duty in Hafencity today and who acted very carefully and highly professionally in a very confusing situation in order to protect other people and track down the perpetrator as quickly as possible,” the senator was quoted as saying in a statement from the interior authority.