The police are looking throughout northern Germany for a trio who attacked a money transporter in Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, on Wednesday afternoon.
According to the investigators, the act happened around 11:34 a.m. in an industrial area on the southwestern city limits. The perpetrators apparently ambushed the money transporter at the headquarters of the Junge bakery chain and struck while clearing a safe. “The driver of the money transport was overpowered with physical violence and his revolver was taken from him. But he was unharmed,” the “Lübecker Nachrichten” quoted a police spokesman as saying. The police did not provide any further information on the course of the crime.
The three perpetrators then drove away with their six-figure loot in a white Ford van. This was discovered in the afternoon near the scene of the crime. The suspects are said to have continued their escape in a Citroën van from Avis car rental in an unknown direction, according to investigators.
The search for them is “at full speed” and “in all directions”. A “massive contingent” is in action, said a police spokesman for the DPA news agency. The trio is also being sought in the neighboring federal states of Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lower Saxony. Drones and helicopters are in use. On site in the Lübeck industrial park, forensic officers got to work.
A description of the wanted person was initially not available, according to reports, they were masked during the robbery. The police warned against approaching suspects – the perpetrators should be armed. “If you observe suspicious people, contact the police immediately via the police emergency number 110.”
In the recent past, robberies on money transporters have repeatedly caused a stir throughout Germany, for example a spectacular act with alleged loot of millions on an access road to the A20 motorway in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania at the beginning of March. In January, shots were fired and two people injured when a money transporter was robbed in Saarland.
Sources: Lübeck Police Department (1), Lübeck Police Department (2), “Lübecker Nachrichten”, DPA and AFP news agencies
