A special police task force has been operating in Vieritz im Havelland since Friday. An armed man barricades himself in a house there. He shot at officers with a submachine gun on Saturday.
- An armed man has been barricaded in a residential building in Vieritz (Havelland) since Friday 2 p.m
- Emergency services entered the house on Saturday but retreated when the gunman shot at them
- Other weapons were found on the site, including a hand grenade
- Police on duty in the case of child endangerment – child was able to leave the house with a woman on Saturday night
The large-scale police operation in Vieritz (Havelland) in Brandenburg continues unabated on Saturday evening. For more than 32 hours, a police special operations team (SEK) has been trying to arrest an armed man who barricaded himself in a residential building.
The police hope that the gunman will eventually tire. “We change our emergency services every few hours,” said the police spokesman. “Time works for us”. How long the operation will last remains unclear.
The police must assume that the man is “unpredictable and highly aggressive,” said police spokeswoman Kerstin Schröder at around 10 p.m. in rbb24 when asked why the operation was still ongoing. The protection of colleagues is the top priority.
The SEK is in action in Vieritz
In the afternoon, emergency services were able to enter the house, but withdrew when the man fired shots from a submachine gun. No one was injured, according to the police. Ammunition and several weapons were discovered in the house, including a hand grenade. “It can be assumed that there are additional firearms in the person’s possession.”
According to a spokesman, a local negotiating group had previously tried in vain to contact the man. Reporters on site reported a detonation in front of the house on Saturday afternoon. The police have been on duty since Friday afternoon – according to the police, as part of an administrative assistance to the youth welfare office in order to enforce a district court decision due to endangering the welfare of children.
The child and wife were able to leave the house
According to initial findings, there were four people in the house in the afternoon: the suspect and another man as well as a woman and a child. An arrest was made late on Friday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the West Police Department said on Saturday. One of the men came out of the house with a gun and was overpowered by police. An arrest warrant was issued against the man. “The suspect has already been taken to the Wriezen prison,” the police said on Saturday evening.
The woman and child left the house around 1 a.m. on Saturday night. A shot was fired from inside the house. Nobody got hurt. According to rbb information, the child is a boy. He has now been handed over to the youth welfare office. The woman is in police custody. The other man remains in the building. The shots are said to have been fired by him.
The exact background to the case was initially unclear. A police spokesman initially did not want to provide further details about the armed person.
The police have blocked off streets
Roads closed, residents should stay in their houses
As a police spokesman told rbb, emergency services from Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein as well as the federal police are involved in the operation, and rescue workers and several fire departments are also on site. An armored vehicle is also on site.
The thoroughfare and the streets around the residential area are cordoned off. Residents are asked to stay in their houses, a police spokeswoman told rbb. The West Police Department announced this morning that there was no danger to the general public.
Vieritz has around 300 inhabitants and is part of the municipality of Milower Land. The village is located around 20 kilometers northwest of Brandenburg an der Havel.
Broadcast: rbb24, November 11, 2023, 12:00 p.m