Series of fires: Suspected arsonist gunned down in Krefeld cinema

Fire series
Suspected arsonist gunned down in Krefeld cinema

The NRW Interior Minister speaks of an attempted murder. Photo: Christoph Reichwein/dpa

The NRW Interior Minister speaks of an attempted murder. photo

© Christoph Reichwein/dpa

The police shoot a suspect in a cinema in Krefeld. He is said to have spilled gasoline there and tried to set it on fire. The NRW Interior Minister speaks of attempted murder.

Shortly after midnight it gets light in Krefeld Central station. Forensics turned on the floodlights at the neighboring cinema complex. Officers in white protective suits photograph bloody clothing and smashed glass. Inside, cinema employees are waiting to be allowed to remove the blood stains.

About four hours earlier, police had shot a 38-year-old man there with at least one shot. Fires had previously been reported in quick succession in downtown Krefeld. The police then raised a major alarm.

The first fire is said to have broken out in the attic apartment of the 38-year-old Krefeld resident of Iranian nationality. Then there is a trail of destruction through the city center – first a minibus from the Caritas outpatient drug help center burns, then an incendiary device flies into the employment agency building.

Liquid spilled from petrol can

On the way to the main train station, the 38-year-old is said to have threatened a 16-year-old teenager with a knife. Finally, the man, who is already known to the police, is said to have spilled liquid from a petrol can in the cinema foyer next to the main train station. The smell of gasoline spreads.

When he tried to set a fire, a police officer shot and injured the man. He was taken to hospital, but his injuries were not life-threatening, according to security sources. The exact motive is still unclear, the Essen police said.

Suspect probably mentally disturbed

“If someone spills gasoline in a cinema with 150 people and tries to start a fire, that is attempted murder,” said NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) in Neuss near Düsseldorf to the German Press Agency. “It’s not the first time that this person has been noticed. He has been noticed several times – as someone who causes trouble,” continued Reul.

The police were able to remove the man from traffic very quickly. “That would have been really dramatic.” It is still too early for a final assessment. “But as things stand, it looks like it’s a person who had psychological problems,” says Reul.

Employees: About 150 people in the cinema complex

A cinema employee praises the police’s quick intervention, “otherwise this would have been a catastrophe,” he says. According to him, there were around 150 people in the cinema complex at the time of the crime, spread across several cinema halls. A police spokesman says some moviegoers witnessed the event. According to police, no people other than the suspect were injured in Krefeld.

Krefeld main station was 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. It remains unclear whether cinema-goers as eyewitnesses had to be cared for by pastors. Most of the onlookers ran away. It’s raining.

dpa

source site-1

Related Articles