Great concern in Karlsruhe: A hostage-taking in a pharmacy kept the city in suspense for hours. The police are deployed with a large contingent and special forces, and are still pulling together more and more emergency services on Friday evening, as the German Press Agency learned from police circles. Around 4.30 p.m. the first emergency calls came in. Several hostages are in the violence of the perpetrator. After almost five hours - at 9:10 p.m., special forces storm the pharmacy and end the kidnapping.
"Fortunately, no hostages were physically injured," said police spokesman Dennis Krull. A suspect was overpowered and arrested for the time being. Eyewitnesses reported shortly before two loud bangs, police officers had run towards the pharmacy. Even after the arrest, police officers searched the building - to ensure that there was not another perpetrator hiding, as the spokesman said. For tactical reasons, the police initially did not want to provide any information about possible demands and ransom demands.
The police had contact "into the pharmacy" very early on. According to the emergency services, there was no danger to the population. Nevertheless, the police called on people to avoid the area of operation and to follow the instructions of the emergency services. A school for accommodation was opened for residents. Everyone who couldn't go home because of the barriers had the opportunity to go to the secondary school.
Nearby events cancelled
The crime scene is in the middle of downtown Karlsruhe on one of the main streets. The forces cordoned off the area over a wide area. Numerous police and emergency services vehicles were seen on the street.
The Karlsruhe trade fair canceled two evening events at short notice due to the situation. An event with dog trainer Martin Rütter and a master concert are affected, said a spokeswoman for the fair on Friday on request.
She assumes that the event in the Black Forest Hall was sold out, the hall holds several thousand people. The concert was to take place in the nearby concert hall. The spokeswoman assumed that around 1000 tickets would be sold. The visitors couldn't get through anyway: Both venues are part of the fairground, which is close to the site that the police cordoned off over a large area. According to the Karlsruhe Transport Authority, the stop at the Kongresszentrum was no longer served.
Pharmacy robbed in January
The prominent dog trainer Rütter called on his fans not to come to an event near the site that he had planned for the evening but had to cancel. "The event has just been canceled because an armed hostage-taking is taking place in a pharmacy 100 meters as the crow flies," said Rütter in a video published on his Instagram channel. "Please don't come to the hall, it's cordoned off over a large area here, and please don't come close either."
It was only in January that there was an incident in the pharmacy: a masked robber got into the personnel area, threatened an employee with a saw-like tool and fled with a liter of methadone. A few days later, a suspect in this case was identified and arrested.
