The hostage situation at Hamburg Airport ends with a man in custody and 4-year-old daughter safe
Berlin, Nov 5: The hostage situation at Hamburg Airport ended Sunday afternoon, around 18 hours after a man drove his vehicle through the gates of the airport with his 4-year-old daughter inside, authorities said. The man was arrested and the girl appears to be unharmed.
Hamburg police tweeted that "the hostage situation is over. The suspect has left the car with his daughter. ... The child appears to be unharmed."
Police also said that "the man was arrested by the emergency services without resistance."
The airport in the northern German city had been closed to passengers and flights cancelled since Saturday night when the man, who was armed, broke through an airport gate with his vehicle and fired twice into the air with a weapon, according to German news agency dpa. The man drove the vehicle just outside a terminal building and parked it under a plane.
Authorities said the man's wife had previously contacted them about a child abduction.
Police said that the 35-year-old man had his daughter inside the car after reportedly taking her by force from the mother in a possible custody battle.
A psychologist had been negotiating with the man for 18 hours. Nobody was injured during the standoff after all passengers had evacuated the airport, police said.
The mother of the girl also arrived at the airport earlier on Sunday.
Police spokeswoman Sandra Levgruen said that officers were checking whether the suspect "still has any explosive devices on him or with him or whether they are still in the car," dpa reported.
"We are currently assuming that he is unharmed, but he is still lying on the ground in the care of the police," she said.
More than 100 flights were cancelled and several planes were rerouted. Thousands of travellers have been affected by the standoff and hundreds were put up at hotels close by.
Police said Sunday afternoon that preparations were underway for the fastest possible resumption of flight operations.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
