Enlarge image
The Altmarkt Gallery in Dresden on Saturday: »Dramatic Hours«
Photo: Bodo Schackow / dpa
A series of acts of violence kept Dresden in suspense on Saturday.
A 40-year-old is suspected of killing his mother early this morning.
He then apparently tried to break into the editorial office of a radio station.
When he failed, he took two hostages in a shopping center.
After the police attacked the perpetrator succumbed to his injuries, the hostages were apparently unharmed.
In the early morning, a 62-year-old woman was found dead in the Prohlis district.
According to the police, it was the mother of the suspect.
Officers found her body around 7:20 a.m.
An emergency doctor who was called could only determine their death.
Shot through the window into the editorial office
The man then apparently tried to break into an office building near the main train station: Among other things, the editorial office of Radio Dresden works in the Ammonhof.
The perpetrator tried in vain to get into the premises at around 8:30 a.m., the broadcaster's managing director, Tino Utassy, told MDR.
The man smashed the window of a door and then shot through this window.
Special security measures were taken after the deadly attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Utassy said.
"They obviously worked and were enough for the employees to escape through a second exit." The employees are apparently doing well.
hostage-taking in the city center
In the Altmarkt-Galerie, a shopping center in downtown Dresden, the 40-year-old then took two hostages – an employee and a child.
According to a report in the "Bild" newspaper, he holed himself up in a drugstore.
The police cleared the building and the adjacent area, and the city center was blocked off extensively.
The Striezelmarkt, one of the most famous Christmas markets in Germany, has been temporarily closed due to the large-scale operation.
According to their own statements, the police managed to contact the hostage-taker by telephone.
A negotiation group and a special task force from the State Criminal Police Office were called in to provide support.
In the early afternoon, the officials attacked.
The two hostages were freed.
A police spokesman said they were “externally unharmed” and were being treated medically.
The perpetrator was fatally injured when the officers attacked him.
The exact circumstances of his death are still being determined, police said.
His motive is still unclear.
A police spokesman said the man was mentally disturbed.
"We are most likely assuming a mental illness." Otherwise, the police are not aware of any obvious motive.
The police spokesman spoke of "dramatic hours".
There were calls from various crime scenes, and shots were also mentioned.
"It was a balancing act." On the one hand, they didn't want to stir up panic.
On the other hand, it was known that there were many Dresdeners and tourists in the city at that time.
The situation was brought under control with the closures.
The plan ultimately worked.
»We are very happy that we were able to give the all-clear again after a few hours.«
Kretschmer thanks the police officers
Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) wrote on Twitter that he was "relieved that this threatening situation could be ended".
He thanked the police for their "decisive and prudent" actions.
»My thoughts are with the victims of this day and I hope that they will be able to discuss and process these terrible experiences together with their fellow human beings.«
State Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) said he was "horrified by the act of a presumably mentally disturbed lone perpetrator and relieved that the police were able to free the two people in the perpetrator's power unharmed given the difficult situation".
The quick and prudent action of the emergency services "possibly prevented worse".
Dresden's Mayor Dirk Hilbert (FDP) also thanked the emergency services.
"This act shows how fragile pre-Christmas contemplation and light-heartedness can be," he said.
slue/dpa