Huge excitement in Dresden before Christmas: while countless people are out shopping or looking forward to a stroll through the Striezelmarkt, a man takes hostages in the neighboring Altmarkt-Galerie shopping center. Around noon, the police managed to contact the man, and a little later emergency services overpowered the man - he was fatally injured. The hostages remain externally unharmed.
According to police findings, the 40-year-old killed his 62-year-old mother in an apartment building in the Prohlis district of Dresden in the morning. Around 7:20 a.m., the police found the lifeless woman. An emergency doctor who was called could only determine their death.
Attack on radio stations - shots through the door
Afterwards, the man is said to have gone to an office building in which the "Radio Dresden" station is also based. The man tried to destroy a door and break in, the broadcaster's managing director, Tino Utassy, told the German Press Agency. After he failed to get into the rooms, he shot through a hole in the door. "Fortunately, the staff had the presence of mind and then ran out through a second exit and fled," Utassy said. According to the broadcaster, all were unharmed. The perpetrator left the building after the shots were fired.
The morning show teams for Hitradio RTL and Radio Dresden were affected. The man tried to break into the studios around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. It is difficult to describe how the employees are doing. "They say they're fine, but of course we don't know for sure. Of course we'll do everything we can to get the right help," said Utassy.
Two hostages in the mall
The third crime scene was the Dresden Altmarkt gallery. There, according to the police, the man took an employee and a child hostage. The police evacuated the mall and adjacent areas. Several people were accommodated in a bus of the Dresden transport company and were cared for there. The famous Striezelmarkt also remained closed for the time being - it only reopened in the early afternoon. The police asked because of the kidnapping to avoid downtown Dresden. The area around the Altmarkt-Galerie is cordoned off.
A police spokesman explained the motive of the alleged perpetrator that the man had been very conspicuous in his mental behavior. "We're most likely assuming a mental illness." Other than that, the police were not aware of anything.
Dresden's Lord Mayor Dirk Hilbert was concerned about the hostage-taking and thanked the emergency services. "This act shows how fragile pre-Christmas contemplation and lightheartedness can be," said the FDP politician, as the city of Dresden announced on Twitter.
Due to the police operation, there were also traffic restrictions. The local public transport of the Dresden transport company is also affected.
