23 Jun 2016

German police ‘shoot gunman after cinema siege’

Elite police have shot dead a gunman who barricaded himself in a cinema complex in western Germany, according to local media.

Police commandos stormed the Kinopolis cinema in Viernheim, near Frankfurt, after reports that a masked man with a gun and ammunition belt had opened fire.

Local media said 20 to 50 people may have been injured, but later reports suggested police gas may have caused the injuries.

German news sites quoted Interior Minister Peter Beuth as saying the man had been shot dead.