A major police operation is underway at a job center in Lehrte near Hanover on Thursday. The officers arrested a suspect who was said to have been involved in a threatening situation. The police announced this on the platform X (formerly Twitter). He is said to have been carrying a weapon, a local spokesman said.
“We have no information that anyone was injured,” said another police spokesman. There is currently no knowledge of an acute threat, but there is no reliable information yet. Emergency services are on site to check whether there is still a danger to people, it said in a press release. The site is largely cordoned off.
“We have found a threat and the operation is ongoing,” the police spokesman continued.
The arrested suspect threatened both employees and frightened customers, as a police spokesman confirmed on site. He did not want to comment on reports of a possible hostage-taking or the man’s identity. It is still unclear whether there were other people involved or whether the man acted alone.
The police therefore called in additional heavily armed forces. The large contingent combed the entire building in the morning, which also houses a savings bank. Officials brought people out of the center, as a dpa reporter observed. The site in the area of the job center on Burgdorfer Straße in Lehrte is cordoned off over a large area.
Note: This article is continually updated.
