Police overwhelm 65-year-old in hospital during large-scale operation
In Aachen, a police operation has been underway at the Luisenhospital since early evening
Source: dpa/Henning Kaiser
A “possible threat situation” kept the police and fire brigade on tenterhooks during a large-scale operation in Aachen’s Luisenhospital on Monday evening. A 65-year-old woman barricaded herself in a room there. The police overpowered the woman that evening.
bDuring a major police operation in an Aachen hospital, a 65-year-old suspect was overpowered by special forces who had barricaded herself in a room at the Luisenhospital for hours. Aachen police spokesman Andreas Müller reported this on site late in the evening. The woman was treated in an ambulance.
A special operations team (SEK) ended the situation around 11 p.m. Even after the mission ended, nothing concrete was known about the background.
The police initially did not provide any information about the woman’s health. According to initial findings, no other people were injured, said a spokeswoman for the Cologne police. The woman was rolled out on a stretcher, covered with thermal foil, as a reporter from the German Press Agency reported.
According to police, the 65-year-old entered the hospital in the afternoon and barricaded herself in a room. As a spokeswoman said, smoke was found “close to” the woman. Photos showed smoke rising from the roof of a hospital building. “Bild” reported that the woman had set off pyrotechnics. A fire in the bed area had been extinguished, the fire department announced in the evening.
Smoke over the Aachen clinic
Source: dpa/Kollednigg
Due to a “possible threat”, the police and fire brigade were on site for hours with a large contingent, including heavily armed officers. The hospital rooms in the woman’s immediate area were evacuated.
Armed police officers in front of the Aachen hospital
Source: dpa/Henning Kaiser
The Cologne police took over information sovereignty early in the evening. A police spokeswoman in Aachen had previously confirmed a “suspicious person” in the hospital, but details initially remained unclear.
Aachen: Police and emergency services in front of a hospital
Source: dpa/Ralf Roeger
“There are road closures and rail traffic restrictions. Avoid the area as much as possible,” the police only warned via X (formerly Twitter). In the west of the city, a section of the railway was closed on Monday evening as a precaution.
The hospital is run by a Protestant association. According to the company’s own information, patients with a wide variety of illnesses are treated in 15 clinics.