A masked man with a gun and ammunition belt opened fire in a cinema complex in the small western German town of Viernheim, near Frankfurt, injuring between 20 and 50 people and barricaded himself inside, German media reported earlier yesterday.
Bild daily and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that elite police were on their way to the scene.
The Darmstaedter Echo said 20 to 50 people had been injured.
Bernd Hochstädter, a spokesman for the police command in Southern Hessen, confirmed that the assailant had been killed. Speaking to the N-TV private news channel, Mr. Hochstädter said a special team had carried out the action. He said the team had approached the gunman, supported by local police officers.
“A person with a gun entered the cinema,” Mr. Hochstädter said. The police were alerted and immediately surrounded the center.
The assailant’s identity and motive were not clear.
Viernheim is a city of about 33,000 people near Mannheim, which is known for its chemicals industry.
Germany has not had terrorist attacks on the same scale as France or Belgium, but the police have foiled several plots and the country has been dreading that it, too, could become a target.
Reporting was contributed by Victor Homola from Berlin and Rick Gladstone from New York.
