Editor’s note: This text is continuously updated.
The hostage-taking in downtown Dresden has ended. The perpetrator was caught and injured, the police said on Saturday. The hostages, an employee and a child, appeared unharmed. The man is said to have holed up in a room in Dresden’s Altmarkt-Galerie, and the police had gone on a large-scale operation. According to a police spokesman, the alleged perpetrator in Saxony is very conspicuous in his mental behavior. “We’re most likely assuming a mental illness.” Other than that, the police were not aware of anything. Everything points to a mental illness.
Both the Altmarkt-Galerie and all adjacent areas had been evacuated. The Striezelmarkt, one of the most famous Christmas markets in Germany, was also closed for the time being. Police asked to avoid downtown, the press release said. Because of the operation, there are traffic restrictions in the city center. Public transport is also affected, according to the police.
The police initially did not confirm media reports that a person had been shot dead. However, as the police explained on Saturday afternoon, a dead woman was found in an apartment building in the Prohlis district around 7.20 a.m. in the morning. The homicide is related to the operation in downtown Dresden, according to the officials. The suspect is the woman’s 40-year-old German son.
