CRIME
German police have confirmed that a hostage situation in a Dresden shopping centre has ended.
Published: 10 December 2022 13:28 CET
Special forces of the German police stand in the center of the city of Dresden. Photo: Jens Schlueter/AFP
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.
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″.
???? All clear! ????
The hostage taking #Dresden is finished! Two people are in our care, apparently unharmed. #dd1012
— Police Saxony (@PolizeiSachsen) December 10, 2022
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.