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Photo:
Michael Probst / AP
The police are publicly looking for a suspect who is said to have shot two police officers near the town of Kusel in Rhineland-Palatinate.
According to the police, the man is 38-year-old Andreas Johannes Schmitt.
According to SPIEGEL information, Schmitt runs a game trade in Neunkirchen, about 50 kilometers from the crime scene, and a bakery.
He is said not to have been known to the security authorities as an extremist.
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The suspect Andreas Johannes Schmitt, 38
Photo: West Palatinate Police Headquarters
According to the police, Schmitt is suspected of having shot a 24-year-old policewoman and a 29-year-old policeman on Monday morning.
He lives in Spiesen-Elversberg, has brown hair and wears a beard.
His whereabouts are currently unknown.
The officials are looking for the man with a police helicopter, personal tracking dogs and special forces, among other things.
In the early morning, unspecified perpetrators had fired the fatal shots at a traffic control.
The 24-year-old police officer and the 29-year-old police officer were able to radio their colleagues with the words: "They shoot!".
According to SPIEGEL information, the police officers had previously informed their colleagues that they had discovered dead game in the trunk of the car.
According to dpa, the police officer fired several more shots at the crime scene.
His colleague's weapon was obviously not used.
According to SPIEGEL information, Schmitt runs a game trade in Neunkirchen, around 50 kilometers from the crime scene.
He also runs a bakery in Sulzbach, about 60 kilometers southwest of Kusel.
More than 50 clues
According to police, the fatal shots were fired around 4:20 a.m.
When reinforcements arrived at the scene, the woman was already dead, a police spokesman said.
Her colleague died shortly after the rescue workers arrived.
It was not immediately clear how often the shots were fired.
The police assumed that an autopsy would be ordered.
Both victims came from Saarland.
District road 22 was completely closed at Mayweilerhof and Ulmet.
Traces were secured at the crime scene.
"Every stone is being turned on this street at the moment," said a police spokeswoman.
A description of the escape vehicle presumably used was not known.
The direction of escape was also not clear, it said in the early afternoon.
"There are a lot of tips from the population," said the police spokeswoman.
These so far more than 50 references would be evaluated gradually.
The police asked residents not to pick up hitchhikers in the Kusel district.
At least one suspect is armed.
The state chairwoman of the police union (GdP), Sabrina Kunz, appealed to the citizens in the Kaiserslautern area to refrain from meetings against Corona on Monday, out of consideration for the terrible act and the investigations, for which many forces would be needed.
Interior Minister Faeser: "Reminds of an execution"
Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer and Interior Minister Roger Lewentz said they were "deeply shocked" by the fatal shots.
"Our thoughts are with the relatives," said a statement from the two SPD politicians in Mainz.
The Prime Minister ordered mourning flags in the country.
Black ribbons are provided for all patrol cars in the country.
Other federal states also followed this step for their police officers.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) said: "Regardless of the motive behind the act: This act is reminiscent of an execution, and it shows that police officers risk their lives every day for our security."
Words of sympathy also came from the CDU and the Greens. In Berlin, CDU leader Friedrich Merz expressed his condolences and sympathy to the families and colleagues of those killed. He also thanked the police for their work: "You do your service every day for our country, for this society, for the people in Germany. And as we must realize at such moments, this service is not without danger. Thank you very much for doing your work even on such a difficult day as today.«
Green leader-designate Omid Nouripour said the act was "extremely depressing".
Police officers were doing their service for the greater good and were working "millions of hours and overtime," especially during the pandemic, he said.
"When their lives are in danger during traffic checks, it's a very, very difficult matter, and hopefully we will have information very quickly." He expressed his sympathy to the bereaved.
"I believe we are all with them and know that their loss is the loss of all of us."
The designated co-party leader Ricarda Lang was also concerned.
»Today two young people in Kusel, a police officer and a police officer, lost their lives on duty.
We are all shocked by this act,” she said.
The protection of the police officers must be "all of our concerns".
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