Hamburg’s glass-topped concert hall, one of Germany’s most photographed buildings, became the end point of a manhunt on Tuesday after a 68-year-old man opened fire in a nearby apartment block and then hid in the hotel that occupies part of the landmark.
Police said the shots were fired at around 8.50 a.m. in a residential building on Am Kaiserkai in the HafenCity district. A 40-year-old security guard was hit and phoned officers himself; a 39-year-old woman who lives in the building was found with life-threatening wounds in its underground car park. Public broadcaster NDR reported that she is the suspect’s daughter-in-law. Regional broadcaster SWR said the weapon was believed to be a gas pistol.
Tips pointed investigators towards the Elbphilharmonie, and heavily armed special forces swept the building. Parts of the concert hall and its public viewing deck were evacuated, while officers looked after children who had come for a school concert. Some officers wore protective suits because of fears the man might be carrying hazardous substances, a concern that proved unfounded. Shortly before 1 p.m. he was found dead in a hotel room; police believe he took his own life.
The case then widened to the south-west. Officers checking the suspect’s home address in Eningen unter Achalm, a small town near Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg, found the bodies of his 65-year-old wife and his 90-year-old father-in-law, both victims of violence according to police. Investigators say the motive appears to lie within the family but have not given details.
The local mayor, Eric Sindek, called it “a great tragedy”. In Hamburg, a homicide unit has taken over and police said there was no ongoing danger to the public; the venue said evening concerts would go ahead as planned. The city’s interior senator, Andy Grote, praised officers for acting carefully in what he described as a confusing situation.
Anyone in Germany struggling with thoughts of suicide can reach the free crisis line Telefonseelsorge at 0800 111 0 111 or 116 123.
