Gunman kills top official in Hamelin, north Germany Published duration 26 April 2013

image caption This archive photo of Mr Butte is from his time as a senior police officer

A gunman in the north German town of Hamelin has shot dead the top district executive before shooting himself fatally, according to police.

The unidentified attacker opened fire on Ruediger Butte, the administrator for Lower Saxony's Hamelin-Pyrmont district, in his office.

The Social Democrat (SPD) politician, 64, was a former director of criminal investigations for Lower Saxony.

Hamelin is famous worldwide for its folk tale of the Pied Piper.