Nine people died and several were injured in the shooting incidents in the city of Hanau, around 20 km east of Frankfurt on Wednesday night.

Police launched a major manhunt involving dozens of armed officers and a helicopter.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw around thirty police cars leaving Hanau police station and, according to witnesses, police officers with machine guns were deployed in the city.

At around 5am the police tweeted that officers had raided a house to find the suspect and one other person dead.

“One of the dead people is most likely the culprit,” police said in a statement. “There are currently no indications of other perpetrators. Investigations into the identity of the victims and the suspected perpetrator are ongoing.”

The shootings took place at two shisha bars in different parts of Hanau, according to local media.

The shooter reportedly opened fire at the Midnight shisha bar in the centre of Hanau around 10pm. Eyewitnesses reported hearing eight to nine gun shots.

They then drove to the neighborhood of Kesselstadt and opened fire at Arena Bar &Café.

A silver Mercedes covered by what looked like a survival blanket could be seen behind a police cordon and surrounded by officers in front of “Arena Bar”, with shattered glass on the floor.

According to local media reports, three people were killed in front of the first bar and five in front of the second.

At least five people were also seriously wounded, reports said. Police initially said eight had died but later confirmed the death toll had risen to nine.

Police said they had no information on any possible motive for the attacks.

Hanau has a population of about 100,000.

Counter-terror prosecutors take over

German counter-terror prosecutors said Thursday they had taken over the investigation into two linked shootings that left at least nine dead in the central city of Hanau, near the financial capital of Frankfurt.

“Federal prosecutors have taken over because of the particular importance of the case,” a spokesman told AFP, adding that “there are signs of a xenophobic motive” for the killings.

Germany has been targeted in recent years by a number extremist attacks, one of which killed 12 people in the heart of Berlin in December 2016.

But far-right attacks have become a particular concern for German authorities.

In October, a deadly anti-Semitic gun attack in the eastern city of Halle on the holy day of Yom Kippur underscored the rising threat of neo-Nazi violence. The rampage, in which two people were shot dead, was streamed live.

On Friday police arrested 12 members of a German extreme right group believed to have been plotting “shocking” large-scale attacks on mosques similar to the ones carried out in New Zealand last year.

Source:thelocal.de