Mönchengladbach (dpa / lnw) - After an ATM in Mönchengladbach was blown up, the perpetrators were shot at by the police as they recklessly fled in the car. Witnesses reported explosions in a bank early Saturday morning, prompting several patrol cars to rush to the scene, police said.
When the first units arrived, the probably three to four perpetrators were already driving off in the dark getaway car. They dodged a civilian emergency vehicle on a sidewalk and threaded back onto the street. There they rammed a car belonging to their pursuers and immediately continued their breakneck journey undeterred.
According to the police report, a police officer then fired shots at the getaway car. The neighboring police in Aachen, for reasons of neutrality, have started investigating the background to the use of firearms, as was reported. Both policewomen were not injured in the collision, but the patrol car was no longer drivable due to the severe damage to the front right.
The police had the fugitives on the A61 in the direction of Venlo in their sights again, but according to the message they lost visual contact in the area of the Süchteln junction. The subject of the investigation is currently whether the perpetrators left the autobahn there or stayed on the A61. The apartment building in which the bank is located was checked by a structural engineer and approved as accessible. The bank's window was shattered, and the ATMs behind it were badly damaged, according to the police.
According to witness statements, one of the perpetrators was behind the wheel of the car during the robbery, the other two or three men ran into the bank room with bags after the blast, returned shortly afterwards and got into the getaway vehicle. Two perpetrators were described as male with a slim stature and about 1.80 meters tall. They were dressed in dark, with black hoodies, balaclavas and headlamps. According to the police, the getaway vehicle had to be badly damaged on the front right.
