Two wounded near the Elbphilharmonie
The Hamburg police operation began after a man called to report that he had been shot. NDR reported that the shooting occurred around 8:50 a.m. in a residential building on Am Kaiserkai in HafenCity, near the Elbphilharmonie.
Officers found the caller, a 40-year-old security company employee, on the sidewalk outside the building and gave him first aid. They later discovered a 39-year-old woman who lived in the building in its underground garage. She had life-threatening injuries.
Both were taken to hospitals. The woman remained in critical condition late in the afternoon, while the man's condition was stable, police said. According to SWR Aktuell, the woman was reportedly wounded in the neck and the man in the leg.
NDR identified the woman as the suspect's daughter-in-law, a report also cited by SWR Aktuell but not presented as an official police confirmation. SWR Aktuell separately reported that the weapon may have been a gas pistol; that detail remained preliminary and unconfirmed.
Wife and father-in-law found dead
In Eningen unter Achalm, south of Stuttgart, investigators found the suspect's 65-year-old wife and 90-year-old father-in-law dead at his home address. Police believe both deaths resulted from a violent crime.
Their bodies were discovered around 11:30 a.m., just minutes before officers found the suspect dead in the Hamburg hotel room. According to n-tv, his personal details led investigators to Eningen unter Achalm, a community of about 11,500 residents at the foot of the Albtrauf, east of Reutlingen.
Police have released few details about a possible motive. They said it could involve family matters and were examining the connection between the killings in Eningen and the Hamburg shooting.
Eningen Mayor Eric Sindek expressed dismay at the deaths, describing them as a great tragedy and offering condolences to the relatives.
Protective gear and a partial evacuation
The Hamburg search involved more than a dozen patrol cars, police dog handlers and riot police units. Information gathered during the search pointed officers to a hotel room in the Elbphilharmonie.
Specialist officers from the State Criminal Police Office entered the room in full protective gear because police had indications that the suspect might have access to hazardous substances. Emergency crews placed a decontamination container outside the concert hall, and several responders wore orange protective suits.
That concern was not borne out. Police said that, based on the information then available, no hazardous substance had been found in the room.
Parts of the Elbphilharmonie were evacuated at midday, and a broad area around the building was cordoned off. Dpa reporters saw emergency personnel escort guests from the viewing platform and hotel.
Police also supervised several dozen children inside the building, a spokesman said. A school concert was taking place in the venue's small hall at the time, according to its online program.
Concerts resume as homicide inquiry begins
The large-scale operation around the Elbphilharmonie was largely over by the afternoon. The venue then resumed normal operations, with spokesman Martin Andris telling dpa that concerts would go ahead as scheduled.
Hamburg Interior Senator Andy Grote of the Social Democratic Party thanked police for their careful and highly professional response in a confusing situation, saying they had worked to protect others and find the suspect as quickly as possible.
A Hamburg police spokesman said the homicide squad would now take over the investigative work. That afternoon, a small car with Reutlingen license plates was towed from the Elbphilharmonie's underground garage. Police also cordoned off a dark vehicle with Reutlingen plates in the residential building's garage.
