Police have launched a large operation after receiving reports that an armed man has taken two hostages in Stuttgart, Germany.
The active shooter apparently has two hostages at the office, and armed police are attending the scene. Authorities have sealed off a large area around the office, which is located in the east of the German city.
Neighbor saw armed man enter building
There have so far been no reports on whether the gunman has fired shots. Around 100 officers are involved in the operation.
“We are assuming that there are two people inside the building,” said a police spokesman.
A woman in a neighboring property apparently alerted the authorities after seeing the man enter the law firm with a gun.
Witnesses apparently reported hearing shots, but authorities have not been able to confirm this. Armed police are engaged in a standoff in the upscale residential district in the east of the city.
Two dead bodies discovered by police officers
Public transport has been suspended in the area. VVS GmbH, the regional transport network, said that the route had been shut down as a result of a “police operation.”
After several hours without hearing the two men inside the property, armed police took the decision to enter. They found two bodies inside, believed to be the gunman and a lawyer who worked at the firm. They were not killed by the police.
Police are now investigating the motive for the attack.
Germany experienced another armed attack last month when a masked man took a number of hostages at a cinema in the industrial city of Vierheim. The man was shot dead by armed police and none of the moviegoers were injured.
Stuttgart is the sixth-largest city in Germany and the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg. Shootings have surged into the forefront of the global consciousness this week after ongoing tensions in the United States related to the deaths of black men at the hands of police officers.
