Hanau shooting: eight dead in attack on shisha bar in German town - reports

[malaise]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/19/shooting-germany-hanau-dead-several-people-shisha-near-frankfurt
<snip>
At least eight people have been killed and five others seriously injured in a shooting in the German town of Hanau, local media have reported.


Bild newspaper reported late on Wednesday that eight people were killed and several others were injured when an unknown attacker opened fire in a square in the centre of the town near Frankfurt.

The Hessenschau regional broadcaster said two shootings had taken place at two separate shisha bars in Hanau.

The suspects are at currently at large, according to the police.

More details soon …

[Karadeniz]

1. I hated it when American culture spread overseas in the form of MacDonalds and KFC. But this

Is horrendous. Trump is dragging us down, violence is up. People notice.

[CatWoman]

2. wow

I once lived in Hanau.

[malaise]

3. Wow!

Seems an odd place for such a shooting

[smirkymonkey]

4. Shisha bars are Turkish hookah bars, aren't they?

Sounds like this might have been a racially motivated hate crime by German Nationalists. Not sure, since we don't have details yet. Just very tragic and so sad to see this kind of thing spreading throughout the world. It's terrifying. What the hell is wrong with people?

[malaise]

5. Yep

We'll see

[malaise]

6. You were 100% correct

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2020/feb/20/germany-attack-gunman-acted-on-rightwing-racist-motives-says-merkel-video

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/19/shooting-germany-hanau-dead-several-people-shisha-near-frankfurt
<snip>
A gunman has killed nine people in two apparently racially motivated shootings at shisha bars in the German town of Hanau, police have said. The suspect then killed himself, according to police, after also killing his mother at his home.

Some of those killed were of Turkish origin, a spokesman for the Turkish presidency said. “We expect German authorities to show maximum effort to enlighten this case. Racism is a collective cancer,” İbrahim Kalın tweeted.

The killer was named by police as 43-year-old Tobias R. His surname was not given, in line with German practice. German media named him as Tobias Rathjen.

He shot himself and his 72-year-old mother at home, police said. They also confirmed he possessed a hunting licence.

The Bild newspaper said the gunman had expressed extreme rightwing views in a letter of confession he left behind. A video in which he explained his motives is believed to be part of the investigation. The Guardian could not confirm the details of his confession. The video was taken down from social media sites on Thursday morning, police said.

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Merkel is correct