NINE people were shot dead when a far-right terrorist opened fire on two shisha bars in the German town of Hanau, near Frankfurt, overnight.

Cops this morning confirmed the suspect's body - 43-year-old German national Tobias Rathjen - had been found dead next to his elderly mother just hours later in a home nearby.

22 Police stand guard at the scene where the horror shootings unfolded at two shisha bars in Germany overnight Credit: AP:Associated Press

22 The suspect has been named by German media as

22 A 1996 yearbook photo of the terror suspect Credit: Getty Images - Getty

Local newspaper Bild this morning reported the suspect had left a confessional letter and video expressing extreme far-right views.

It was reported that the 43-year-old had written a 24-page letter claiming certain people living in Germany must be exterminated because they could not be expelled.

The horror first unfolded about 10pm on Wednesday when the gunman stormed the Midnight shisha lounge in downtown Hanau- spraying bullets at people inside.

A witness said: "Someone with a gun came in and shot people."

The suspect then fled the scene - heading to the shisha bar Arena barely two miles away where he again unleashed a series of shots at innocent bystanders.

Terrifying footage showed paramedics tend to a victim from one shooting as gunshots rang out nearby.

Our political debates must not avoid the fact that there are right-wing terror in Germany again 75 years after the end of the Nazi dictatorship. Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz

Photos showed a silver Mercedes covered in silver foil thought to have been damaged in one shooting outside the Arena Bar & Cafe.

The death toll this morning climbed to nine in the shisha shootings, with at least five people badly injured.

Witnesses and surveillance videos of the suspect's getaway car led authorities quickly to his home in the Kesselstadt distric, near the scene of the second attack.

Peter Beuth, the interior minister for the state of Hesse, confirmed the suspect was found dead next to his 72-year-old mother.

22 Police officers secure the Arena shisha bar which was targeted in the shooting Credit: AFP or licensors

22 The horror first unfolded about 10pm when the gunman stormed the Midnight Shisha bar Credit: Reuters

22 Police in hazmat suits secure the bar targeted in the attack Credit: AP:Associated Press

22

22 Police can be seen examining a silver Mercedes where the shooting unfolded Credit: Reuters

22 The victims were gunned down during attacks on two shisha bars barely two miles apart Credit: AP:Associated Press

22 One of the shootings took place at the Arena Bar in Hanau, with a silver car seen at the scene Credit: AP:Associated Press

22 Forensic officers can be seen examining the scene Credit: EPA

22 Police remove the car believed to belong to the suspected shooter Credit: AFP or licensors

22 The motive for Wednesday night's shootings is suspected to be an act of domestic terrorism Credit: Reuters

22 Police officers detain a man at a scene of a shooting in Hanau near Frankfurt Credit: Reuters

Authorities did not confirm any possible motive for the attack, or how the suspect died.

However, interior minister of the state of Hesse Peter Beuth, said Federal prosecutors were treating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism.

Beuth said on Thursday: "This is an attack on our free and peaceful society".



GUNMAN TAKES HIS LIFE

Police revealed their information suggested the gunman had committed suicide at his home after a "dark vehicle" was seen speeding away from the first shooting at the Midnight bar.

Although they have not released the gunman's identity, they have so far said “there are currently no indications of further perpetrators.”

Authorities confirmed arrests have been made but were unable to confirm if they were definitely involved.

This is an attack on our free and peaceful society. Interior minister Peter Beuth

Eyewitnesses reported hearing eight or nine gunshots and at least one victim lying on the floor, and seeing empty bullet cartridges littering the floor.

Claus Kaminsky, the Mayor of Hanau, said: “I am deeply affected. The very fact that eight people lost their lives shakes me.

"But I ask all citizens not to participate in speculation.

"The police must now have the chance to clarify and sort out the situation - until then we should wait with prudence, however difficult it is."

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The German government has since released a statement over the tragedy, saying: "The thoughts are with the people in Hanau this morning, in the middle of which an appalling crime was committed.

"Deep sympathy goes to the families affected, who mourn their dead."

German counter-terror prosecutors have now taken over investigations into the massacre.

ONLINE VIDEOS UNEARTHED

German news agency dpa reported that police are examining a video the suspect may have posted online several days earlier.

The man details a conspiracy theory about child abuse in 'underground military bases' in the United States, secret organisations and recalls his paranoia of feeling persecuted and watched.

In the video, the speaker said he was delivering a personal message to all Americans that your country is under control of invisible secret societies.

In a slow and deliberate voice, in accented English, he says there are deep underground military bases in which they abuse, torture and kill little children.

The authenticity of the video couldn't immediately be verified.

On a website registered by someone with the same name as the man in the video, Tobias R., the owner says he was born in Hanau in 1977 and grew up in the city, later training with a bank and completing a business degree in 2007.

The website is currently under evaluation.

Ronni Abdel-Razak, a spokesperson for the European Shisha Community Alliance, said: "The entire European shisha community is deeply saddened and appalled by the deaths of so many innocent individuals.

"Our deepest sympathies go out to the victims and their families.

"We are concerned that shisha lounges have been deliberately targeted because of their unique importance to minority communities.

"These communities have too often been victims of hate and intolerance in Europe.

"Shisha has been an integral part of diverse communities for centuries.

"Shisha lounges are a safe place for people to meet and socialize in a friendly and familiar environment. They also serve as a warm and inclusive venue for all cultures to experience this beloved tradition.

"Violent and hateful acts will not stop our communities from gathering, celebrating, and moving forward together in peace and love."

RISE IN RIGHT-WING TERROR

The attack comes amid growing concerns about far-right violence in Germany.

Germany's political landscape has been polarised in recent years, with a wave of immigration and a slowing economy helping to fuel support for extremist groups at both ends of the spectrum.

Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for political and social consequences, saying: "Our political debates must not avoid the fact that there are right-wing terror in Germany again 75 years after the end of the Nazi dictatorship."

He added society must "defend our liberal, cosmopolitan democracy against its enemies" and expressed his sympathy to the relatives of the Hanau victims.

"But we shouldn't stop at expressing our dismay and shock at this incredible act." he said.

Scholz referred to the assassination attempt on Walter Lübcke, President of Kassel, saying: "That is why we must not go back to the agenda".

Chancellor Angela Merkel said that while the circumstances of the attack still needed to be fully investigated, the shootings exposed the poison of racism in German society.

Merkel pledged to stand up against those who seek to divide the country.

She said: "There is much to indicate that the perpetrator acted out of far-right extremist, racist motives. Out of hatred for people with other origins, other faiths or a different appearance.

"Racism is a poison. Hatred is a poison.

"This poison exists in our society and its is responsible for far too many crimes."

Racism is a poison. Hatred is a poison. German Chancellor Angela Merkel

The shooting is the third attack associated with right-wing extremism in Germany in less than nine months.

Islamic associations in Germany have since condemned the attack.

Muslim Coordination Council spokesman Zekeriya Altug said on Thursday in Cologne: "Now is the time to get together and stand together".

He called on society to send a “sign of solidarity with the victims of right-wing agitation and right-wing terror”.

Ali Ertan Toprak, chairman of the Kurdish community in Germany, also called for a more determined struggle by the state against right-wing extremism.

He told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland: "We have been pointing out the dangers for years.

"The state has to show that it is defensive. And the police must take decisive action against right-wing extremists.”

In October, an anti-Semitic gunman opened fire outside a German synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, and killed two people as he live-streamed his attack.

Authorities have banned some far-right groups endorsing violence, while Germany's post-war centrist political consensus has been undermined by growing support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, notably in the former-Communist eastern states.

Hanau is in the Main-Kinzig region about 12 miles east of Frankfurt and has about 100,000 inhabitants.

22 A suspect was seen being led away in handcuffs by police Credit: AP:Associated Press

22 Armed cops flooded the area after Wednesday night's bloodbath in Hanau Credit: Reuters

22 An armed officer stands guard at the scene of a restaurant after the massacre Credit: Reuters

22 A bullet lies on the ground at the scene of one of Wednesday's shootings Credit: Reuters

22 Emergency services were scrambled to the scene Credit: EPA

22 Police launched a manhunt for the perpetrators after the attack Credit: Reuters

22 A man lays candles and flowers in front of one of the bars targeted in the attack Credit: EPA