A gunman on Wednesday at 10 PM local time opened fire on two hookah lounges in Hanau, 12 miles east of Frankfurt in western German, killing eight people and injuring several others, then killing himself police reported. He was found dead in his home early Thursday.
According to Bild, the gunman was a German citizen who had a license to carry a firearm. Police found ammunition and magazines in his car. Apparently, the man sent out a written confession and a video before embarking on his murderous endeavor.
Local police issued a statement saying “there are no indications that other suspects were involved,” and that “investigations into the identity of the victims and the perpetrator are ongoing.”
Hesse Interior Minister Peter Beuth said the case is considered a terrorist attack, likely with xenophobic motives.
“Federal prosecutors have taken over the investigation and there are indications of a right-wing extremist background,” according to a spokesman for the prosecutors.
According to German public radio, the first shots were fired at a hookah lounge in the city center, where witnesses say they heard eight or nine shots. The gunman then drove to a different neighborhood, where shots were heard at another hookah lounge.
The attacks came four days after a shooting that killed one person outside a Turkish comedy show in Berlin.
Incidentally, Germany has among the toughest gun laws in the world, and access to guns has been tightened even more in recent years, in response to mass shootings across the country.