The police in Montabaur negotiated with the alleged perpetrator for hours, then broke into the house. Officers found three bodies there. The alleged perpetrator died a little later.
According to SWR information, a special police task force broke into the residential building on Elgendorfer Strasse in Montabaur on Thursday afternoon and overpowered the man. According to police, three bodies were found in the house, including a child. The police speak of a “tragic family drama”.
The alleged perpetrator himself was very seriously injured and taken to a hospital. As the public prosecutor’s office told SWR, he has since died there.
According to the police, forensics are currently still at the crime scene. As long as the investigators are busy there, the area around the house will remain cordoned off.
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Victims probably from the family environment
It is not yet known what relationship the victims and the alleged perpetrator have to each other and what the motive could be. According to police, the two adults and the child were already dead when the SWAT team came to the apartment. According to the police spokesman, it can be assumed that these are close relatives.
It is not known how the three people died. The police have not yet provided any information about this. The public prosecutor’s office has taken over the investigation. According to initial information from the police, the man is probably mentally ill. Before the access, specialists from a negotiating unit spoke to him for several hours.
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Residential area in Montabaur was initially cleared
The residential and commercial area was cordoned off and cleared on Thursday morning. Residents, passers-by and employees of the local businesses had to leave their houses and apartments.
In addition to residential buildings and a hotel, the cordoned off area on Elgendorfer Straße in Montabaur also houses the headquarters of the telecommunications provider 1&1.
A contact point was set up in a supermarket in Montabaur for residents and students where they could stay during the police operation. SWR
Police: Not a shooting and not a politically motivated act
Contrary to rumors on social media, it was not a shooting, a police spokesman told SWR this morning: “It’s a static situation.” It was initially not clear whether the man was armed.
According to the police, there was never any danger to people who do not live in the affected residential area. A politically motivated act was also ruled out from the start. There were many officers on duty in the Elgendorfer Strasse area. According to eyewitnesses, a helicopter was also circling over the area in the morning.