First fires, then shots fired: Police shoot down suspect in cinema foyer in Krefeld

First fires, then shots fired
Police shoot suspect in cinema foyer in Krefeld

The police shoot a man in the foyer of a large cinema at the main train station. Photo: Christoph Reichwein/dpa

The police shoot a man in the foyer of a large cinema at the main train station. photo

© Christoph Reichwein/dpa

The police shoot a suspect in a cinema in Krefeld – during opening hours. What was the man up to? The motive was initially completely unclear.

In the foyer of a large cinema at the main train station in Krefeld Police gun down a suspect. He was injured, said a police spokesman in Essen. How serious was still unclear – as was the background to the incident. According to current knowledge, no other people were injured.

Some cinemagoers witnessed the event, said a police spokesman at the scene. The investigators assumed that there was a single perpetrator, so there was no longer any danger to the population, it was said. Before the incident, the suspect is said to have started several fires near the train station, according to police.

Reason for firing unclear

The spokesman initially did not want to say what exactly the man was supposed to have done in the cinema. It is still unclear why he ran to the cinema after the arson – whether he wanted to break in or fled there. The spokesman also could not say whether the suspect was armed. “I don’t yet know what led to the shooting.” According to WDR information, the suspect wanted to enter the cinema with a Molotov cocktail and another weapon and was shot by the police in the foyer of the building.

A police spokesman said the incident was initially classified by the police as an attack for organizational reasons. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was an attack. “But we can’t rule it out completely because we simply don’t know the motive yet.” According to police, the suspect’s identity and motive were still unclear.

The area around the cinema was cordoned off. Numerous police officers were deployed there. According to a dpa reporter, the train station itself was not closed, people went in and came out. According to the city, around 236,000 people live in the Lower Rhine city of Krefeld.

Presumably three fires started

The spokesman reported that the first emergency call was received by the police at 7:50 p.m. There were fires in three places in the city that were allegedly caused by the suspect. Among other things, a vehicle and a house near the train station burned. Police spokesman Andreas Séché said that the arrest and shooting occurred shortly after the fires in the Cracau district.

According to an unconfirmed report in “Bild”, the suspect is said to have hurled an incendiary device into the Federal Employment Agency building at 7:50 p.m. He is then said to have set fire to a car parked in front of the house and fled towards the main train station. The roof of an apartment building was said to have burned nearby at the same time, the newspaper also reports.

Emergency pastoral care and forensics

Krefeld main station is still lined with police cars around midnight. Directly in front of the portal there is a car with the inscription “Emergency Pastoral Care” with hazard lights. New vehicles are constantly arriving and white vans with various Ruhr area license plates are making their way: The spusi, the forensics department, is there.

The officers are supposed to secure traces of what happened in the cinema foyer. But first they put on protective vests. They talk. “Attack or not,” can be heard. It started to rain. Most of the onlookers ran away. A woman begs for a few cents. “They shouldn’t make such a wave,” she growls.

dpa

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