Hamburg Airport
Suspect had a live pistol and a dummy explosive belt with him – an arrest warrant was issued
More and more details are becoming known about the hostage situation at Hamburg Airport
© Jonas Walzberg / DPA
The man who paralyzed Hamburg airport for 18 hours by attempting to kidnap his daughter wasn’t just armed. According to the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office, he also had a dummy bomb with him.
For the man driving with his daughter in the car on the airport apron Hamburg drove, the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office has issued an arrest warrant. The press release also contains new details about the crime and the perpetrator. Accordingly, the suspect is said to have reported via the police emergency call that he had a bomb in the vehicle and that he and his daughter had demanded that he and his daughter leave the country for Turkey. He fired several times with a pistol and threw incendiary devices out of the car, which were then extinguished. The suspect then allegedly threatened that he would shoot or detonate the explosives.
After the suspect was arrested by the police after around 18 hours, the investigators discovered not only the firearm but also a homemade dummy of an explosive belt: a book wrapped in aluminum foil with wires stuck into it. When the police searched the man’s apartment in Buxtehude, they secured evidence.
Suspect already convicted of kidnapping minors
The child’s father was sentenced to a fine of 3,600 euros in spring 2023 for abducting minors, said Kai Thomas Breas, spokesman for the Stade public prosecutor’s office, on Monday. The Turk took the girl to his homeland in March 2022. The mother filed a complaint, but then initially tried to settle the matter in other ways. The proceedings were therefore initially discontinued.
The woman then filed a complaint again on September 2, 2022, said the authority spokesman. Previously, in July, the family court of the Stade district court had withdrawn parental custody from the father and given sole custody to the mother. The woman picked up her daughter from Turkey on September 17th and brought her back to Germany. The penalty for abducting minors is between a fine and up to five years in prison.
Daughter kidnapped by mother in Stade
On Saturday, the 35-year-old kidnapped the girl again from his estranged wife’s apartment in Stade and fled by car. According to witnesses, the woman desperately tried to stop her armed ex-partner. She filed a complaint again.
Additional source: Press release from the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office