A 65-year-old woman kept a large contingent of police and fire departments in suspense for hours in the evening in Aachen’s Luisenhospital. There she barricaded herself in a room for reasons that are still unclear – for a long time the police were unable to answer whether she was with possible victims or armed.
At around 11 p.m., a special operations team (SEK) was finally able to overpower the 65-year-old. She was seriously injured by gunfire during the attack. “Since the woman did not respond to being spoken to, the police officers used their firearms to end the dangerous situation,” the officers said that night.
According to initial investigations, the police assume that the woman had suicidal intentions. The 65-year-old from Eschweiler is said to have had, among other things, a blank gun with her and threatened employees of a physiotherapy practice in the hospital.
dpa reporters observed that the woman was rolled out of the hospital on a stretcher, covered with a thermal foil. She was treated medically in an ambulance on site.
Fire in the clinic
The emergency services became aware of the incident after the Aachen fire department received a message about a fire in the Luisenhospital around 5 p.m. It was only late in the evening that the city of Aachen reported that the fire in the hospital’s bed area had been extinguished.
A total of almost 400 people were there. The emergency pastoral care was represented by eleven people. 73 affected people from the Luisenhospital were cared for. “Four people from the intensive care unit have to be transported to other hospitals,” the city said. 270 patients could have stayed in hospital.
In the hours before the access, it could be seen how the clinic operations continued, at least partially, behind the wrought iron bars of the extensively cordoned off clinic. Lights were still on in hospital windows; Staff in white coats scurried across the hospital parking lot. Blue flashes of police cars flashed through the night-black sky.
SEK heavily armed and helicopters in action
The hospital area in the woman’s immediate area was immediately evacuated. Patients and staff were brought to safety, Müller reported. The SEK was heavily armed and at times a helicopter circled over the hospital.
There had been repeated speculation about a possible hostage-taking, but the police had not confirmed this. Initially nothing was known about the woman’s motive.
Müller reported that it is being examined whether there is a connection with a house fire on the same day in Eschweiler. A fire destroyed an apartment in an apartment building there in the afternoon. No one was harmed.
Road closures and restrictions on rail traffic
The Cologne police took over information sovereignty early in the evening. “There will be road closures and restrictions on rail traffic. Avoid the area as much as possible,” warned the police via X (formerly Twitter).
As a precaution, a section of the railway line in the west of the city was closed. “Trains are waiting at suitable stations,” said DB Regio on Platform X. Delays, partial cancellations and short-term changes to the train route are possible. Passengers were asked to check their travel connections. It is unclear how long the operation will last.
The hospital, located on the edge of the center, is run by a Protestant association. According to the company’s own information, patients with a wide variety of illnesses are treated in 15 clinics.
