crime
Police surround a forest area in search of armed man
A fire alarm was followed by a police operation. Photo
© Pia Bayer/dpa
A major police operation is underway in Altdorf near Nuremberg.
After a fire with a “threat situation”, the Police in Altdorf near Nuremberg have surrounded a forest area while searching for an armed man. The Central Franconia Police Headquarters announced this on X.
According to reports, the first fire alarm went off in the Middle Franconian municipality in the afternoon. According to the police, a house was on fire in the afternoon, and there was also a fire in the forest. When the fire brigade arrived to put out the fire, a fireman was threatened with a firearm, according to “nordbayern.de”. This was not officially confirmed.
Local residents heard gunshots – according to police headquarters, special forces officers had shot open padlocks during a search of the premises.
The police called on residents to avoid the area. The nearby Autobahn 3 was closed in both directions. A special task force is also deployed, said a spokeswoman for the Central Franconia Police Headquarters. According to the spokeswoman, there were no injuries, at least none that the officers knew of.
Altdorf is a small town with a population of around 17,000 located southeast of Nuremberg. At the same time, the town festival was taking place in the old town. The police therefore sent additional officers to answer questions from festival-goers and residents.
It was unclear whether the man being sought was actually in the wooded area. Due to the potential danger to the fire service, no fire-fighting operations were carried out at first.