Police rule out terrorism as motive for suspect who died after shootout with officers outside club in Konstanz

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A 34-year-old man opened fire in a nightclub in the southern German city of Konstanz on Sunday, killing one person and seriously injuring three others, police have said.

The gunman was fatally wounded in a gunfight with police officers outside the music venue after they had rushed to the scene shortly after the incident at about 3.30am BST. He died later in hospital.

The motive for the shooting was unclear. One police officer was also injured in the exchange of fire.

The gunman was an Iraqi citizen who had lived in the country for a long time and was not an asylum seeker, a German police spokesman told broadcaster N-TV.

Fritz Bezikofer said police had ruled out terrorism, adding: “The motives of the man who acted alone are unclear. We are still investigating but the circumstances surrounding the events at the disco in the evening before the shooting are a bit clearer and this led us to rule out a terrorism background.”



A witness told local media he saw an attacker with a machine gun, adding: “The club was packed. I would guess there were more than 100 people inside.”

The shooting came after a man killed one person and injured six others in the northern city of Hamburg on Friday. Officials said he was an Islamist known to security forces and had mental health issues.

Police said a 50-year-old woman and four men aged between 19 and 64 were injured in the attack, all of whom were German. A 35-year-old Turkish man was injured while trying to stop the attacker, they said. Media reports said he injured his shoulder while throwing a metal rod.