Today, a single gunman opened fire on a German lecture hall injuring many people.
According to police, multiple victims were shot at Heidelberg’s university by a man with a long-barrelled firearm.
The attacker himself is dead, officials said, as specialist SEK commando units and police officers swarmed Neuenheimer Feld, an area of the town which consists mostly of buildings associated with the University of Heidelberg.
Bild newspaper, news agency DPA, and police sources reported that the gunman opened fire on the lecture hall, injuring many people, and then turned the weapon against himself.
After the shooting, police cars were left parked in front of Heidelberg University Heidelberg (Germany)
On Monday, members of the SEK stood by vehicles on campus at Heidelberg University in Heidelberg
The police did not provide details about how and why the gunman was killed, nor did they specify how many were injured.
Neuenheimer Field is the main location of parts of the university’s hospital and natural science laboratories.
Mannheim Police Department stated in a statement that there was a large-scale incident in Neuenheimer Field. It is now known that a single attacker injured many people at a lecture hall using a long gun.
“The perpetrator is now dead. We will continue to provide information on this site. Colleagues remain at the scene with powerful forces.
The police advised drivers not to go through Neuenheimer Feld earlier in the day so rescuers and emergency personnel could freely travel to respond to the shooting.
Police said that a man armed with a long barreled gun shot several people at Heidelberg University, in southwestern Germany.
One member of the SEK looks on as a vehicle passes by Heidelberg University’s campus on Monday
The University of Heidelberg Press Office declined to comment on the matter and directed all inquiries to the police.
Heidelberg lies south of Frankfurt with approximately 160,000 residents. The university of Heidelberg is one the most well-known in Germany.
A spate of terrorist attacks on Germany in the last few years has hit Germany, mainly by far-right militants and jihadists.
Germany has one of the toughest gun laws Europe, so school shootings are not common there.
Nine former pupils were killed, along with three teachers and three other passers-by, in 2009 in Winnenden (also in Baden-Wuerttemberg). After the shooting, the gunman committed suicide.
A 19-year old former student shot 16 people, including 12 teachers, at Erfurt’s school. He also killed himself.
This story is breaking, and more will follow.